BBC在线收听下载:利比里亚最后一名埃博拉患者出院

BBC news 2015-03-06

BBC News with Marion Marshall.

Liberia has discharged its last known Ebola patient, a moment that started its countdown to being declared Ebola-free. Our global health reporter, x, reports.

After almost a year of battling Ebola in Liberia and more than 4,000 deaths in the country, this is a significant milestone, but authorities are remaining extremely cautious. While still now, no known cases of the virus in Liberia, both neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone recorded a rise in new infections last week. The World Health Organisation points out the virus was able to move between their poorest borders when the outbreak began, and it warns that could happen again if people let down their guard.

Syrian state media says the army has killed the top military commander of the al-Nusra Front, a rebel group linked to Al-Qaeda. It said he was killed in an attack on a meeting of al-Nusra Front leaders in the province of Idlib. The al-Nusra Front is one of the most powerful groups fighting to overthrow the Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad, and was behind a major attack in the city of Aleppo on Wednesday. The U.N. Envoy to Syria has suggested that he will be prepared to negotiate with the al-Nusra Front as part of his effort to secure a temporary truce in Aleppo. Staffan de Mistura made his comments in an interview with BBC's Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet.

Syria's U.N. Envoy is struggling to convince warring sides in the northern city of Aleppo to agree a truce to reduce the violence and allow the delivery of badly-needed aid. He told me he was willing to talk to everyone to save lives. He said there were no talks now with the Al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, but he hoped they were listening to his appeal, and there was a possibility he would talk to them, too. His comments come amid reports that al-Nusra Front is considering cutting ties with Al-Qaeda to pave the way for funds and arms from the Gulf state of Qatar, which, like the West, is struggling to find a strong ally in the fight against the so-called Islamic State, as well as President Assad's forces.

At least 45 people in northeastern Nigeria have been killed by suspected Boko Haram militants. Witnesses said the militants attacked the village in Borno State at dawn on Tuesday, killing men and boys. Richard Hamilton has the details.

The attack came at dawn during morning prayers. Residents who escaped by hiding in the bush said the gunmen sought out the men and young boys from the village and murdered them. There was chaos and panic, they said, and then dead bodies scattered everywhere. The residents also complained that the army was nowhere to be seen. This latest slaughter comes despite announcements from Nigeria and its neighbours that they are winning the war against Boko Haram. News of the attacks has only just emerged because of the remoteness of the location. The village lies about 100km south of the state capital, Maiduguri. It's also thought that Boko Haram had destroyed communication networks in the area.

World news from the BBC.

Lawyers for the family of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was killed by police in the U.S. city of Ferguson last year, say they are planning a civil suit against the officer who shot him. The killing of Mr. Brown by Darren Wilson sparked widespread anger and riot in Ferguson and a national debate about race and policing. Gary O'Donoghue reports from Washington.

Darren Wilson has known since November that he wouldn't face any criminal charges after shooting dead Michael Brown. Yesterday, the Department of Justice announced he also wouldn't face any charges relating to federal civil rights laws. But it seems he could end up in court anyway, civil court. Now Mr. Brown's family has said it will sue. It comes as an investigation by the federal government found racial bias in Ferguson's law enforcement operation, which seems more about revenue-raising through fines than proper policing practice.

The Iraqi government says Islamic State militants have begun bulldozing the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud. The Antiquities Ministry said the jihadists were using heavy machinery to destroy the archaeological site, one of the most celebrated jewels of Iraq's ancient heritage.

One of the biggest circus companies in the United States has decided to phase out its century-long use of elephants. This report from Alastair Leithead.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus called a decision to stop using performing elephants after 145 years, bitter-sweet, and one that had been debated at length. The President to the Circus's parent company, Feld Entertainment, which owns 43 elephants, said the last 13 which are still performing would all be retired to the conservation centre in Florida by 2018. And though rights activists have campaigned against the company for many years, and the statement from Peter, People for the Treatment of Animals, said if the company is telling the truth about ending this horror, it will be a day to pop the champagne corks and rejoice.

Alastair Leithead.

BBC News.