CONAKRY, Guinea

African region ramps up Ebola-eradication efforts

The West African countries hit hardest by Ebola are ramping up efforts to eradicate the deadly disease using lockdowns, restrictions on burials and a warning to survivors about the potential dangers of unprotected sex.

The region’s Ebola outbreak has killed more than 10,000 people since cases were first recorded more than a year ago.

Sierra Leone, which has seen the most cases, imposed a three-day lockdown that officials hoped would help the country get “total control” over Ebola.

Neighboring Guinea could soon be holding its own lockdowns after President Alpha Conde announced that emergency steps would be “reinforced” for a 45-day period in five districts in the west of the country.

All burials in the affected areas will need to be secured by Red Cross or security forces, and all dead bodies will be systematically tested, Conde said. Mourning ceremonies will be restricted to close family.

In Liberia, the government issued a statement Sunday warning survivors of Ebola to abstain from unprotected sex even beyond the 90-day period earlier recommended.

TUNIS, Tunisia

Security forces decimate jihadi group’s leadership

Tunisian security forces decimated the leadership of a Tunisian jihadi group linked to al-Qaida’s North African branch, including the man identified as the “operational chief” of the attack this month on the National Bardo Museum that killed 22 people, mostly foreign tourists, the interior minister said Sunday.

Najem Gharsalli said Khaled Ben Hamadi Chaieb, also known as Lokman Abou Sakhr, an Algerian, handled the operational end of the March 18 attack.

SINGAPORE

Procession, state funeral honor longtime leader

Singaporeans bid farewell to longtime leader Lee Kuan Yew on Sunday with an elaborate procession and a three-hour state funeral at which his son, the current prime minister, eulogized the statesman and declared that the wealthy city-state he helped build is his monument.

Undeterred by heavy rain, about 100,000 people lined a 9-mile route through the city to catch a glimpse of the funeral cortege. Lee’s coffin, draped in Singapore’s red and white flag and protected from the downpour by a glass casing, lay atop a ceremonial gun carriage that was solemnly led past city landmarks. The funeral was attended by more than 2,000 people, including schoolchildren, Singapore’s elite, world leaders and royalty.

 

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