International News
DR Congo Ebola outbreak declared global health emergency
BBC World News
The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo a "public health emergency of international concern".
The move may encourage wealthy donor countries to provide more cash.
But the WHO stopped short of saying borders should be closed, saying the risk of the disease spreading outside the region was not high.
Israelis call for education minister to resign over gay conversion remarks
The Guardian
Hundreds of demonstrators have called on Israel’s new education minister to resign after the far-right politician said he supported gay conversion “therapy” and had even attempted it himself.
Ministers and other politicians also condemned Rafi Peretz, a former chief military rabbi who heads a religious nationalist party, who was asked by local Channel 12 news over the weekend whether he believed he could convert gay people to heterosexuality.
Japan’s exports fall in June, hit by global trade wars
AP News
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s exports declined in June as shipments of goods were hit by global trade wars, according to data released by the Finance Ministry Thursday.
Japan’s exports declined 6.8% compared to the same month last year, while imports fell 5.2%. The trade surplus for the month totaled 589.5 billion yen ($5.5 billion), the ministry said.
How Myanmar families resist armed groups recruiting children
Al Jazeera
Myanmar's long-standing internal armed conflicts have been characterised by severe human rights violations and mass displacement, with forced recruitment tactics used by both the Myanmar army and non-state armed groups.
Young men are the primary target, but children are often also swept up in blanket enlistment practices.
The Myanmar military was first found guilty of using child soldiers in 2003, in a UN report on children in armed conflict.
US News
Amnesty International calls for closure of migrant child detention center
The Guardian
Amnesty International USA has called for a detention center for migrant children in Florida to be closed down and for congressional public hearings to be held into conditions at the facility, which lies near Miami and was recently visited by a slew of 2020 Democratic candidates.
The human rights group said in a new report that the detentions were “cruel and unlawful” and “the disastrous consequences of US policies toward children seeking protection”.
New data shows drug overdose deaths fell in 2018. But there’s a big catch.
Vox News
Preliminary data shows that drug overdose deaths may have fallen by 5 percent in 2018 — the first drop in overdose deaths since the country’s opioid epidemic began in the 1990s.
The data, first reported by the New York Times, seems like good news. A 5 percent drop would amount to hundreds or even thousands of lives saved each year:
But there are also several reasons to be cautious about the report:
1) The latest CDC data is preliminary and subject to change. Overdose deaths could end up higher or lower than the data says right now. We just won’t know until the final figures come out later this year, likely around December.
Protesters picket Naperville gas station after clerk questions teen’s citizenship, says her Mexican cousins need to ‘go back to their country’
Naperville Sun via Chicago Tribune
Protests outside a Naperville Mobil gas station were held throughout the day Wednesday -- including one scheduled for 4 p.m. -- in response to a video that shows a station clerk telling Hispanic customers that “they need to go back to their country” and “ICE will come.”