DR Congo, Sri Lanka, Lebanon
Today's three stories you should know
DR Congo
Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo said confirmed Ebola cases in the country have now reached 1,561, including 506 deaths. The figures do not count a significant number of suspected cases. The outbreak, which was confirmed in May, is of the rare Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine, and the response has been complicated by the epicenter’s location in a conflict zone.
More from Reuters here.
NB: Proximities has published a deep dive on the outbreak here.
Episode 6 of The Proximities Podcast, a conversation with British-Palestinian commentator and political economist Kieran Andrieu, is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
Sri Lanka
At least 25 people have been killed and more than 100 injured during riots in a prison in Sri Lanka, according to officials and local media. The dead included both inmates and prison officials, a TV station reported. Prison spokesman A.C. Gajanayake said the violence initially broke out between inmates, that prison guards were attacked when they tried to intervene, and that some prisoners tried to escape. Sri Lanka’s prisons are notoriously overcrowded with more than 39,000 inmates crammed into a system with a total capacity of just 10,000.
More from AP here.
Lebanon
At least four people have been killed in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, state media said, in the latest violation of a ceasefire. Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said the victims were the principal of Youssef Shamoun Public School, her mother, a foreign domestic worker and a Syrian worker. A vehicle all four were traveling in was hit by a guided missile near Dar al-Muallimeen, NNA reported. Israel has continued to carry out intermittent strikes on Lebanon despite an ostensible truce. Lebanese authorities say Israeli attacks have killed at least 4,300 people since hostilities began on March 2.
More from Al Jazeera here.