2nd Ebola medic dies; airline flights cut
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone -- A leading virologist who risked his own life to treat dozens of Ebola patients died Tuesday from the disease, officials said, as a major regional airline announced it was suspending flights to the cities hardest hit by an outbreak that has killed more than 670 people.
Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan, who was praised as a national hero for treating the disease in Sierra Leone, was confirmed dead by health ministry officials there. He had been hospitalized in quarantine.
Health workers have been especially vulnerable to contracting Ebola, which is spread through bodily fluids such as saliva, sweat, blood and urine. Two American health workers are hospitalized with Ebola in neighboring Liberia, where another doctor died earlier this week.
The Ebola outbreak is the largest in history, with deaths also blamed on the disease in Guinea and Nigeria. The disease has no vaccine and no specific treatment and has a fatality rate of at least 60 percent.
In a statement released Tuesday, airline ASKY said it was temporarily halting flights to Monrovia, Liberia, and Freetown, Sierra Leone. Flights will continue to the capital of Guinea, though passengers departing from there will be "screened for signs of the virus." Passengers at the airline's hub in Lome, Togo, also will be screened.
China police fire at knife-wielding mob
BEIJING -- A mob armed with knives rampaged through part of China's volatile northwestern region of Xinjiang and police responded with gunfire, leaving dozens of people dead in the latest violence blamed on Islamic militants, state media reported Tuesday.
Many other people were injured in the violence Monday in Shache county near the city of Kashgar, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
It said the mob first attacked a police station and government offices in the township of Elixku before moving on to a neighboring township, attacking civilians and smashing vehicles along the way.
Xinhua said dozens of people were killed or injured in the attacks but gave no precise figures. It also said that police shot and killed dozens of the attackers.
"Initial investigation showed that it was a premeditated terror attack. Further investigation is under way," Xinhua said.
There has been increasing violence in Xinjiang in recent months blamed on pro-independence militants from the region's native Turkic Uighur Muslim ethnic group. China says the attackers have ties to overseas Islamic terror groups, although it has provided little evidence of that claim.
Karzai's cousin slain by bomb in a hat
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A powerful cousin of outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai was assassinated Tuesday by a suicide bomber hiding explosives in his cap, a provincial official said.
Hashmat Karzai was campaign manager for former finance minister and World Bank official Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, who is competing against Abdullah Abdullah for the presidency.
The attacker blew himself up while bowing to kiss Hashmat Karzai's hand after morning prayers for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr in a reception room at the Karzai family home in the southern province of Kandahar, a provincial government spokesman said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack, which happened as officials are auditing all 8 million ballots cast last month in the second round of the country's presidential election. The process is key to ensuring a peaceful transfer of power as the international community winds down its combat mission and foreign aid dwindles.
Rebel-tunnel blasts kill 13 Syria troops
BEIRUT -- Insurgents fighting in Syria to oust President Bashar Assad detonated bomb-packed tunnels Tuesday under buildings in the contested northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 13 pro-government troops, opposition activists said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels detonated explosives in two tunnels, dug under the ancient quarter of Aleppo that has been the site of some of the fiercest fighting in the Syrian conflict, now in its fourth year.
Clashes between rebels, belonging to Islamic groups including the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, and Assad's forces broke out after the blasts and fighting raged into the night, the activist group said. The group has been documenting Syrian conflict since it started in March 2011 through a network of activists inside the country.
A Section on 07/30/2014