Briefly

COTE D'IVOIRE

Fears as Ebola returns after almost 30 years

Cote d'Ivoire has recorded a first case of Ebola, the health minister announced late on Saturday, in the first occurrence of the deadly disease in nearly 30 years. Officials at the Institut Pasteur had confirmed the case after testing samples taken from an 18-year-old Guinean woman, Health Minister Pierre N'Gou Demba said on RTI state television. She had left the city of Labe in Guinea by road, arriving in the country on Wednesday, he said. Cote d'Ivoire already had doses of the vaccine against Ebola, which is going to those who have been in contact with the woman.

LEBANON

Fuel tanker explosion kills 28, hurts dozens

A fuel tanker truck exploded early on Sunday in northern Lebanon, killing 28 people and wounding dozens more, the Lebanese Red Cross said. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast. The Red Cross said its teams recovered the 28 bodies from the site of the explosion in the village of Tleil and assisted 79 people who were injured or suffered burns in the blast. Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan called on all hospitals in northern Lebanon and the capital Beirut to receive those injured by the explosion, adding that the government will pay for their treatment.

JAPAN

Downpours put 1.4m under highest alert

Torrential rain was continuing across wide areas of Japan, with 1.42 million people put under the highest level of alert on Saturday. The highest alert was issued by local authorities in Hiroshima Prefecture and three prefectures in Kyushu, which all logged record rainfall, local media reported. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of the risks of landslides in a wide area extending from western Japan to the northeastern part of the country, with a seasonal front expected to hover near the main island of Honshu for a week.

Agencies - Xinhua