ACCRA, July 4:  The United Nations health agency said it expected the worst Ebola outbreak in history to continue its deadly rampage through west Africa for at least “several months”.
The highly-contagious tropical bug has infected hundreds of people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) figures showing that confirmed or suspected cases had left 467 people dead and experts fearing it could spread throughout the region.
Keiji Fukuda, the UN agency’s assistant director-general of health security, said at the close of a regional summit of health ministers on the crisis it was “impossible to give a clear answer” on how far the epidemic could spread or when it might begin to retreat.
“I certainly expect that we are going to be dealing with this outbreak minimum for a few months to several months,” he told AFP.
“I really hope for us to see a turnaround where we begin to see a decrease in cases in the next several weeks.”
Marie-Christine Ferir, of medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF), echoed the assessment, saying the outbreak could “continue for about a few weeks, or perhaps months in certain parts”.
The warning came as health ministers from 12 nations wrapped up two days of talks in Accra with global experts in communicable diseases, with debate raging over the measures required to stop Ebola in its tracks.
They were expected to make a raft of recommendations to regional governments and to WHO on containing the disease, including the launch of a USD 10 million war chest to boost medical aid in the worst hit regions.
There are five species of Ebola, three of which — Zaire, Sudan and Bundibugyo — can kill humans.
Zaire Ebola, the deadliest and the species behind the current outbreak, can fell its victims within days, causing severe fever and muscle pain, weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea — in some cases shutting down organs and causing unstoppable bleeding.
There have been 21 Ebola outbreaks — not including isolated cases involving only one patient — since the virus first spread to humans in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then known as Zaire, in 1976.
Before the current crisis, Ebola had killed 1,587 people, two-thirds of those infected, according to an AFP tally based on WHO data. (AGENCIES)

KHARTOUM, July 4:  A battle between rival Sudanese clans near an oil-drilling site killed 150 people and wounded 100 more, state-linked media has reported.
The fighting in West Kordofan state between two sub-groups of the Misseriya tribe “continued all day because of a land dispute near the oil field,” said Mohammed Omer Al-Ansari, a tribal leader.
He was quoted by the Sudanese Media Centre, which is close to the security apparatus.
The report did not say on which day the battle occurred, but it comes about one month after the same groups, the Zurug and Awlad Amran clans of the Misseriya, clashed in that area.
A tribal source said in early June that at least 41 people died when the two sides fought with Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
The combat broke out as each group claimed ownership of a plot of land where drilling for oil is under way, a witness to the earlier fighting said. (AGENCIES)

QUETTA, July 4:  More than 800 bodies have been found in different parts of the troubled Balochistan province of southwestern Pakistan in the last three and half years, a media report said.
According to a report in ‘Dawn’ newspaper, the bodies were found mainly in Quetta, Khuzdar and Makran belt.
The report quoting sources in the Balochistan Home and Tribal Affairs Department said that 466 victims were identified as ethnic Baloch, 123 as Pashtuns, and 107 from other ethnicities and 107 bodies remained unidentified.
The report which is sure to stir up civil and human rights activists said that of the 466 Baloch killed in the province, most were political workers while the remaining were killed in incidents of targeted killings, tribal disputes, domestic violence etc.
“This is an alarming situation,” veteran Baloch nationalist leader, Hayee Baloch said.
He insisted that Baloch political workers were still being picked up from various parts of the province to suppress their voice.
The mineral rich province has been hit hard by insurgency by separatists and militants in the last few years while sectarian violence has also claimed many lives mostly of ethnic Hazara Shia muslims.
According to a rough estimate thousands have been killed in bomb attacks, targeted killings and other violence in different parts of the province.
The recovery of mutilated bodies had started in 2009 and since than dead bodies have been recovered at regular intervals from different parts of the province, the report said.
Baloch said the ruling governments had failed to deal with the grievances of the Baloch people.
According to details most of the recovered dead bodies were buried by the Edhi trust foundation and apparently the administration has also tried to ensure the recovery of such bodies is not publicised much.
The report said that militants had also intensified their attacks against vital national installations in the province with gas installations hit 65 times and carried over 100 bomb attacks.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has already expressed concerned voice over the increasing number of dead bodies being found in the province.
Shamsul Mulk Mandokhail, an activist of HRCP Balochistan Chapter said the government needed to probe into these deaths.
In Balochistan, both state and non-state actors are being accused of severe human rights violations. (PTI)

WASHINGTON, July 4:  US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have stressed that Russia should take immediate steps to de-escalate the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the White House has said.
Obama and Merkel had a telephonic conversation to consult about the situation in eastern Ukraine.
“The leaders expressed their support for diplomatic efforts to pursue a sustainable ceasefire that would be respected by the separatists and fully supported by Russia,” the White House said yesterday.
“They stressed that Russia must take immediate steps to de-escalate the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The President and the Chancellor agreed that the United States and Europe should take further coordinated measures to impose costs on Russia if it does not take steps toward de-escalation in short order.
“The President and Chancellor also discussed the ongoing P5+1 negotiations with Iran and the need for Iran to take advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate that their nuclear program is peaceful,” the telephonic conversation between two leaders said.
Earlier in the day Vice President Joe Biden spoke with the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss the latest situation in eastern Ukraine and diplomatic efforts to pursue a sustainable ceasefire that would be respected by the separatists and fully supported by Russia and would allow for the implementation of the peace plan laid out in Poroshenko’s inaugural address.
“The Vice President underscored that the United States remained focused on Russia’s actions, not its words.
The Vice President noted the United States is prepared to impose further costs on Russia if it fails to withdraw its ongoing support for the separatists, including the provision of heavy weapons and materiel across the border,” the White House said. (PTI)