World News

(Corrects cost in headline and paragraph 1 to $518 million, not $580 million)

NAIROBI, June 5 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization chief announced a $518 million six-month plan to fight Ebola on Friday, voicing optimism that the outbreak could be contained.

“We’re not starting from zero, this plan draws from previous outbreaks and recent health emergencies,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announcing a joint plan with Africa Centres for Disease ​Control and Prevention from June to November.

“Containing Ebola requires political commitment, sustained finances and trust in engaging the communities,” he said.

(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Emma Farge; Editing by Ros Russell)

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NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — At least 49 people died of thirst after a truck broke down and they were stranded for days in the Sahara Desert in northern Niger, authorities said.

The victims, all Nigeriens, were returning home from a religious festival in Mali when the truck stopped running more than 80 kilometers (49 miles) west of Assamaka, near the borders with Mali and Algeria, Niger’s Agadez region governorate said in an online post late Thursday.

Two men survived after trekking more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) to a water source and then continuing to Assamaka, where they alerted authorities, the governorate said.

A delegation sent to the scene by the Agadez Region Governor Gen. Ibra Boulama Issa learned the truck had traveled for several days from the Malian town of Talhandek about 300 kilometers (187 miles) from the Nigerien border.

It was not immediately clear what led to the breakdown or how long the passengers waited.

“On the spot, the findings were particularly disturbing. Dozens of lifeless bodies were found under the immobile truck and in its surroundings,” the Agadez governorate said.

Photos published by the governorate showed bodies in the desert with pieces of clothing and other belongings scattered around.

“Deprived of water and unable to repair the vehicle despite the efforts of the driver, his apprentice and passengers, travelers found themselves trapped in the heart of a hostile environment where extreme temperatures and lack of supply points make survival extremely difficult,” the governorate said.

The 49 victims were buried in mass graves at the scene in what officials called a “particularly delicate and emotionally exhausting task” for the survivors.

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BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A maritime drone that is being used in the war in neighboring Ukraine exploded Friday at a Black Sea port in Romania but did not cause any casualties, the Defense Ministry said.

It said the drone self-detonated in the port of Constanta at around 10:30 a.m., and that the area had already been secured and isolated by the Romanian Intelligence Service, coast guard and the Defense Ministry.

The drone was not part of the Romanian army’s equipment and was not involved in its recent exercises in the Black Sea area, the ministry said. The area was evacuated, authorities said.

The maritime incident occurred a week after a Russian aerial drone that was part of an attack on Ukraine went astray and struck an apartment building in Romania’s eastern Danube port city of Galati, injuring two people in the NATO member country.

Raed Arafat, the head of the Department for Emergency Situations, told a news conference that helicopters were deployed to search for more drones and that the authorities issued text message alerts to residents.

“There is a possibility that there may be other drones,” he said. “We are not panicking. These are preventive measures. If there are other drones, we want to make sure there is not another explosion in an area where people are not evacuated.”

More than 1,300 people have been evacuated from several Black Sea beaches and the routes leading to them have been blocked, authorities said.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan said that law enforcement and security services “acted quickly and preventively” before the explosion and that the priority was the protection of lives and the security of port infrastructure.

“With a military conflict on the border, it is obvious that the security environment we are in is a sensitive one, which is why we will maintain a high level of vigilance,” he said, adding that the incident is a “direct consequence of the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.”

The two incidents are some of the latest in a series of drone incursions — from both Russia and Ukraine — to hit a NATO member since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Romanian forces destroyed another maritime drone in the Black Sea on Wednesday. Since the beginning of the war next door, the Defense Ministry said that the Romanian navy has neutralized nine of the 156 sea mines in the Black Sea basin.

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged support for Romania on Friday after the incident, saying, “We will do whatever your authorities consider as a necessity in order to protect the sovereignty of the land and the air.”

“You can count on us,” he said.

For its part, the European Union was giving “full solidarity and support to Romania,” European Council President António Costa said Friday.

“The EU condemns the repeated violations of airspace of Member States and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the security of all Member States,” he said in a post Friday online. “This is the third significant security incident in Romania in recent weeks. These incidents are a direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

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McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England. Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.

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PARIS (AP) — A firestorm of recrimination raged in France on Friday over the feared killing of a missing 11-year-old girl, with the judicial system accused of having failed to act on previous allegations of rape against the suspect in custody.

The search in southwest France for the girl identified by police as Lyhanna has gripped national and, increasingly, political attention since she went missing after school on May 29.

Police notices said she’d been wearing a black-and-white striped top, black shorts and yellow socks with branding from the Japanese manga series “One Piece.”

After six days of searching by police and volunteers, authorities announced that a child’s body dressed in “similar clothes” was found Thursday in an out-of-the-way location on a farm in the southwestern Gers region. An autopsy has been ordered.

President Emmanuel Macron joined the outpouring of dismay, saying the case had revealed cracks in the system and that he was “shocked.” He spoke on a visit Friday to Montenegro, a departure from his habit of generally not commenting on domestic issues from overseas.

“Things didn’t happen as they should have done. That is clear. And so it is unacceptable,” Macron said. “We cannot look her family in the face and say everything went well.”

French media have reported that a 41-year-old man taken into custody was seen in front of Lyhanna’s school in the Gers town of Fleurance and, on surveillance cameras, later spotted driving with her in his car. He told investigators that he dropped her off near the municipal swimming pool, media reports said.

A Gers-region prosecutor, Clémence Meyer, said this week that young girls and their families had previously lodged multiple complaints about the suspect, including allegations of rape.

An allegation that the man raped a minor at his Gers-region home in 2020 was looked into, with medical evaluations and police interviews, but authorities closed the case in 2024 for lack of evidence, the prosecutor said.

The man was the subject of another, still ongoing police investigation for alleged rape when Lyhanna disappeared. The child in that case alleges that the suspect raped her repeatedly at his home in 2024 and 2025, the prosecutor said. That case has bounced between jurisdictions.

She said another allegation of raping a minor was lodged against the man this week.

The government has launched an investigation. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said officials will look at the time it took for casework to be transferred between jurisdictions, why information is transmitted on paper, not electronically, why police seemingly didn’t follow orders and “why we didn’t intervene despite many months of complaints against the man.”

“It’s completely unacceptable,” Darmanin said, speaking Thursday. “We are all terrified by this malfunction.”

He said it reveals “our poor organization and without doubt, the fact that at the Justice Ministry and elsewhere, we don’t take the words of children seriously.”

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GALPATHA, Sri Lanka (AP) — The site of the deadly fire at an unregistered nursing home for people with mental illnesses in Western Sri Lanka lay abandoned Friday as the death toll rose from 12 to 13 after one of the injured succumbed to injuries at the hospital, an official said.

Glasses cases, medicines and reclining chairs lay strewn around the burned-out shell of the home in Anguruwatota, a small town about 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of the capital, Colombo.

The surviving residents have been shifted to a nearby nursing home.

According to police, 71 people with mental illnesses were staying at the home at the time of the fire. Fifty of them were rescued by neighbors, firefighters and police, and seven were hospitalized.

On Friday, another person died of his injuries, a police officer at the police station at Anguruwatota said, speaking on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The director of the home has already been arrested on suspicion of causing deaths through negligence. He appeared before a court on Thursday and was ordered to be detained for a week while an investigation is underway.

Dhanuja Chathuranga, a 32-year-old employee at the home told the Associated Press that they suspect the fire was caused by an electric short circuit in a wire attached to a water pump.

“The fire initially caught a pile of mattresses and pillows and then quickly spread across the house,” he said, adding that they rescued the majority of the residents, but 10 people were caught in the fire and burned to death. Three others died later in the hospital.

Associated Press footage showed the building gutted with its charred furniture and equipment. Bodies lay nearby.

Local television channels showed image of firefighters, police and residents trying to contain the raging fire. Police and soldiers put those rescued on buses to be taken to a safe location.

Chathura Mihudum, director of the National Secretariat for Elders, said the facility was not registered as a nursing home and had been warned to follow laws and guidelines.

He said it was overcrowded with beds for just about 15 people in a space where 71 people were living.

Government officials had previously visited the institution and had instructed the management to follow laws, he said, without elaborating.

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Netanyahu’s Lawyer Michael Rabello Wins State Comptroller Post Amid Voting Controversy  

Attorney Michael Rabello, the longtime personal lawyer of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was elected Israel’s next state comptroller on Wednesday following a closely contested and controversial vote in the Knesset.  

Rabello secured the position in a second-round vote after neither candidate met the required threshold in the initial ballot.  

In the first round, retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron received 60 votes, while Rabello won 57. Under Knesset rules, a candidate must obtain 61 votes in the opening round to be elected.  

The runoff ended with Rabello defeating Elron by a margin of 61 votes to 57.  

The election process was overshadowed by over issues involving the secrecy of the ballot. Reports emerged that Likud lawmakers had been pressured to photograph or film their ballots to demonstrate support for Rabello, despite legal requirements that the vote remain secret.  

The allegations triggered sharp criticism from opposition parties, which accused the ruling Likud party of operating like a “crime organization.”  

According to reports, ministers suspected of supporting Elron were summoned to Netanyahu’s office during the vote.  

Amid the controversy, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana ordered the second round of voting to be restarted in its entirety. Ohana said any instruction requiring lawmakers to photograph their ballots was “illegal and invalid.”  

The final tally differed from the earlier vote, indicating that some lawmakers changed their votes between rounds.  

Opposition parties are expected to petition the High Court of Justice to overturn the election due to alleged irregularities.  

Rabello has represented Netanyahu in numerous legal proceedings and has also acted on behalf of Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu. In addition, he has participated in political negotiations connected to the prime minister.  

The state comptroller serves as an independent oversight authority that reports directly to the Knesset. The office is responsible for auditing government ministries, monitoring local government activities, reviewing the financial affairs of political parties, and protecting the public interest. 

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June 4 (Reuters) – The Russian-installed management at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant accused Ukraine on Thursday of deploying more than 20 drones to attack a nearby thermal plant vital to supplying the facility with external power.

Russian forces seized the plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, in the weeks following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and each side has since regularly accused the other of military action that compromises nuclear safety.

The management statement accused Ukraine’s military of staging a “multiple attack using heavy unmanned aerial vehicles” on an area close to the plant.

“More than 20 drone strikes have been recorded,” it said.

It said the target of the attack was the nearby thermal plant, “site of critically important energy infrastructure that ensures the operation of the… Ferrosplavnaya-1 power transmission line”.

“Such attacks pose a direct threat to the reliability of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant power supply and once again demonstrate disregard for the principles of nuclear safety.”

Ukraine has made no comment on the Russian allegations.

The plant generates no electricity but needs external power to ensure that nuclear fuel at the site does not overheat.

Two external lines connect to the grid, but one has been down since late March and the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been trying to arrange a ceasefire in order to repair it.

The IAEA on Thursday said it had been informed by the station’s Russian management of the latest incident and its permanently based monitors had seen light smoke coming from near the thermal plant.

Rafael Grossi, IAEA director general, called for an immediate halt to attacks to avoid an extended loss of external power.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski, editing by Deepa Babington)

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LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) – Labour mayor Andy Burnham signalled on Thursday he would run in any leadership race against Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying that if he won a local election later this month he would seek to join any challenge against the British leader.

Speaking in a BBC debate with other contenders in an election to a parliamentary seat in northern England, Greater Manchester mayor Burnham said the governing Labour Party, which is trailing in opinion polls, needed a fundamental change.

Starmer, whose popularity ratings are some of the lowest for a British leader, has vowed to fight to keep his job, but potential rivals are circling him, including Burnham and former health minister Wes Streeting, who resigned last month in protest at the prime minister’s record.

Asked about his ambitions, Burnham, who lost two earlier attempts to become Labour leader, said he did not want to get “ahead of himself”, acknowledging he must first win the election in Makerfield on June 18 to be able to challenge Starmer.

“I can’t do anything unless I’m lucky enough to get the support of people here (in Makerfield). But if I get your support, I would seek to represent you at the highest possible level,” he said in the debate.

He said he thought Streeting seemed to have already “launched a leadership contest”, something the former health minister has not yet done formally.

“So if that is running, I would seek to join it. But I’d have to persuade members of the parliamentary Labour Party to do the same. So that’s the only question,” Burnham said.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Kate Holton)

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June 4 (Reuters) – The Pan American Health Organization said on Thursday it is stepping up efforts to help countries across the Americas to strengthen their preparedness for Ebola, although the risk of the disease remains low in the region.

The agency has activated its incident management system and is working with health ministries to strengthen surveillance, testing and infection control, so countries can rapidly detect and manage cases.

The organization is preparing shipments of materials and reagents for molecular detection of Bundibugyo ebolavirus to selected countries with appropriate biosafety capacity, based on risk assessments, it said.

A rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo has prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has reported 344 confirmed cases and 60 confirmed deaths, along with 116 suspected cases under investigation.

Confirmed cases have been reported in several provinces, including Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. Uganda has reported 15 confirmed cases, including one death.

“Even with low risk, countries must be ready to detect and respond quickly to any possible importation to protect health workers and communities, and to prevent further transmission,” said Dr. Ciro Ugarte, director of health emergencies at PAHO.

The agency is also facilitating international collaboration to ensure timely laboratory analysis through the referral of samples to specialized regional laboratories.

PAHO also reiterated that countries should strengthen preparedness systems without imposing restrictions on travel or trade.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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June 4 (Reuters) – EU ministers on Thursday broadly supported a proposal to limit access to temporary protection for Ukrainian men of military age, Sweden’s migration minister said.

The European Union activated the Temporary Protection Directive after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to manage large-scale arrivals of displaced people.

The scheme, which has been extended three times and is due to expire in March 2027, grants beneficiaries residence permits, access to the labour market and social welfare.

Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell said his country was in favour of the proposal which was discussed at a Justice and Home Affairs meeting in Luxembourg. Any restrictions should apply only to new arrivals seeking temporary protection status, not to those already covered by the scheme, he added.

“It is essential for us to provide Ukrainians with protection, but at the same time the war needs to be fought and won. For that to happen, it is essential that more men stay in Ukraine and fight,” Forssell said ahead of the meeting.

The European Commission would need to propose any extension or modification of the scheme, which must then be approved by EU countries.

More than 4.33 million people who have fled Ukraine currently benefit from the directive, according to Eurostat data.

Germany hosts the largest share of Ukrainians under the scheme, about 29% of the EU total, followed by Poland and Czechia, Eurostat data showed.

(Reporting by Amina Ismail, additional reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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