Briefly

VENEZUELA

Maduro urges vigil against US threats

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday urged a permanent vigil and mobilization in the country's eastern region after the United States and Trinidad and Tobago announced new joint military exercises in the Caribbean. Speaking at a public event in Petare, Miranda state, he called on residents of the eastern states to maintain unity among citizens, military forces and the police, and to stay alert with "the Venezuelan flag held high". The remarks followed Trinidad and Tobago's announcement of fresh drills with the US "using its waters off the coast of (Venezuela's) Sucre state". He criticized the move as an attempt to threaten regional peace and reiterated his call for a patriotic response to "reject aggression".

ETHIOPIA

Outbreak of Marburg virus confirmed

Ethiopia has confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the south of the country, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday. Like Ebola, the Marburg virus causes severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhea and has a fatality rate of between 25 and 80 percent. The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed on Friday that at least nine cases had been detected in southern Ethiopia, two days after Africa CDC was alerted to a suspected hemorrhagic virus in the region.

IRAN

Tehran not enriching uranium, says minister

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday Tehran is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country. Answering a question from an Associated Press journalist visiting Iran, Araghchi offered the most direct response yet from the government regarding its nuclear program following the bombing of its enrichment sites by Israel and the United States in June. "There is no undeclared nuclear enrichment in Iran," he said. "All of our facilities are under the safeguards and monitoring" of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he added. "There is no enrichment right now because our facilities — our enrichment facilities — have been attacked."

Agencies via Xinhua