DR Congo, Egypt, Gaza
Today's three stories you should know
DR Congo
Local people have attacked an Ebola burial team in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the health ministry, underlining the complex communication challenges involved in halting the spread of the virus. Residents took a coffin from the specialist team to bury it themselves – the bodies of Ebola victims remain highly infectious after death. It comes a day after the U.N.’s World Health Organization said authorities were "catching up" with the outbreak, which is believed to have been underway for weeks before it was detected. There have so far been 62 confirmed Ebola deaths in DRC along with 220 suspected deaths, and a handful of cases have been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.
More from Reuters here.
NB: Proximities has published a deep dive on the Ebola outbreak here.
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Egypt
Prominent Egyptian activist and poet Ahmed Douma has been sentenced to one year in prison, with labor, on charges of “spreading fake news,” state media reported. The sentencing comes just three years after Douma was released by a presidential pardon after almost 10 years behind bars on charges related to his participation in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak. Rights groups say that Egypt regularly weaponizes the charge of spreading fake news against journalists, dissidents and academics.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Gaza
At least nine Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli air raids on Gaza, a local hospital said, despite an ostensible ceasefire agreed last October. The nine were killed in at least four separate air strikes, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies, including two women and two children. AP reported that one of the attacks blew a massive hole in the upper floor of what appeared to be a residential apartment building and that blood-stained belongings were scattered across the street. At least 936 people have been killed by Israel in Gaza since the ceasefire was signed. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in the same period.
More from AP here.