DR Congo
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has killed an average of seven children a day since the epidemic was formally declared on May 15, Save the Children said, adding that children are being infected at an alarming rate. At least 2,071 children aged under 18 have contracted Ebola during the outbreak and 961 of that number, almost half, have died. The fatality rate for children under five is 61 percent, according to DRC’s health ministry, significantly higher than the overall rate of 48 percent. The number of people confirmed dead in the outbreak has passed 4,000, new health ministry figures showed on Thursday. The response has been hampered by myriad challenges, including an ongoing conflict and distrust from local communities.
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Gaza
A former senior U.N. food official is taking legal action against his dismissal, which he says was motivated by his stance on hunger in Gaza. Benjamin Davis, who worked at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for 26 years on a renewable contract, was told his employment would end on September 30 at the request of Director-General Qu Dongyu, according to documents seen by Reuters. The papers cited breaches of international civil service standards which require staff to act with impartiality. Davis was among hundreds of employees who held moments of silence for hunger victims in Gaza, and also authored a report on food access in the Palestinian enclave. The dispute went public this week when Qu, speaking at a FAO conference, defended the dismissal of an unnamed staffer by saying, “We will not allow you to play the game here of human rights.” A large crowd of staff is reported to have gathered at FAO headquarters in Rome on Wednesday to applaud Davis as he left the building on his last day.
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South Korea
An extraordinary row between South Korea and Ukraine escalated today as South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung threatened to take unspecified "further action" against Kyiv if it did not apologize for revealing it sent two captured North Korean soldiers to the South. North Korea has dispatched thousands of troops to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed the transfer to the U.N. General Assembly last week, angering Seoul, which said it was supposed to be secret. The two soldiers, it has been reported, asked to be sent to South Korea. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said there had been a "diplomatic misunderstanding," but Lee responded by accusing Kyiv of attempting to "bring war on the Korean Peninsula."
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