Ebola: experimental drug trials to go ahead in Liberia and Guinea
Médecins Sans Frontières to start three trials in treatment centres run by volunteers in west Africa
Three trials of experimental Ebola drugs will start next month at treatment centres run by the volunteer doctors of Médecins sans Frontières in Liberia and Guinea, it has been announced.
The trials are unprecedented because they are being run during an epidemic and the drugs have not been through the conventional long process of clinical trials in animals and healthy humans before being given to people who are sick. They have been set up with extraordinary speed in the hope that the drugs will cut the 70% death rate from the disease in west Africa.
MSF and its partners in the trials, who include academics, pharmaceutical companies and the World Health Organisation, have agreed to run two trials in Guinea, one of which will investigate the use of blood products from people who have survived Ebola, with the location of a third still to be decided.
India mass sterilisation: Doctor arrested over botched operations after 15 die and 90 others are hospitalised
Myanmar 'backsliding' on path to democracy
High hopes for Myanmar's transition to democracy have given way to concerns about stagnation and unfulfilled promises. Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi says no significant reforms have been made in two years.
United States President Barack Obama begins a three day visit to Myanmar Thursday amid concerns the formerly isolated nation is "backsliding" in its transition from oppressive military leadership to democratic rule.
Three years ago, Myanmar, also known as Burma, turned away from a half-century of military rule amid pledges to enact political and economic reforms and the Obama administration touted the development as a great success of its Asia policy. The reforms - and associated US sanctions relief - were deemed an example of the United State's commitment to young democracies and an alternative to Chinese influence in the region.
But Obama acknowledged that progress toward the agreed-upon reforms has slowed, telling Myanmar's The Irrawaddy news magazine that while there had been progress on economic and political reforms, areas such as rights for religious and ethnic minorities and press freedom have seen "a slowdown and backsliding."
Iraqi forces advance in bid for Baiji refinery
November 13, 2014 - 3:30PM
With the sacking of 26 military commanders in Iraq on Wednesday for corruption and incompetence, there are signs that Iraqi government forces are gaining momentum.
Baghdad: Iraqi government forces have made significant advances in an effort to break an Islamic State siege of the country's biggest refinery just outside the city of Baiji, an army commander and state television said.
Backed by Shiite militias, government forces seized 60 per cent of the city centre and were close to opening a corridor to IS militants ringing the refinery, 200 kilometres north of the capital, the commander said.
A deserted area between the edge of the city and the refinery may be difficult to cross because of roadside bombs and snipers, security officials say.
For Colombia's Nasa Indians, the village lays down the law
Indigenous groups in Colombia have the right to mete out their own justice. The Nasa of southwestern Colombia are often caught in the crossfire between guerrillas, the military, and criminal groups, and a recent case has the community on edge.
TORIBIO, COLOMBIA — All it took was a roar from an angry crowd and a show of hands for Carlos Ivan Silva to get a 60-year jail sentence for murder. Minutes later, four of his collaborators were sentenced to 40 years. Two minors, one of them 14 years old, were given 20 lashes in public and sent to juvenile detention.
There was no defense attorney, no chance of a plea bargain, and no mercy from the riled-up crowd in Sunday’s proceedings.
Indigenous groups in Colombia have the right to mete out their own justice.And the Nasa of southwestern Colombia take great pride in their community judicial system — in which the entire village lays down the law.
13 November 2014 Last updated at 08:43
Rosetta: Comet probe Philae now stable - scientists
The robot probe Philae that made a historic landing on a comet is now stable after failing to attach to the surface, the BBC has learnt.
Pictures are coming back from the craft as scientists debate how to proceed.
Previous data from Philae indicated it landed at least three times on the comet, after harpoons failed to attach it to the surface on the first attempt.
Scientists hope the probe will analyse the comet's surface to yield insights into the origins of our Solar System.
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