African leaders ready $100mn emergency response to Ebola outbreak

The World Health Organization warned west Africa’s Ebola-hit nations on Friday that the epidemic was spiraling out of control, AFP reported. The outbreak was “moving faster than our efforts to control it,” WHO chief Margaret Chan told the leaders of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia at a regional summit. The response to the epidemic had been “woefully inadequate,” Chan said. The leaders were in Guinean capital Conakry to organize the deployment of hundreds of extra medical personnel as part of a $100 million emergency plan. The epidemic has so far claimed more than 700 lives.

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Panic in Algerian capital after quake, 6 dead

At least six people died after a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit southeast of Algiers on Friday, officials say. The US Geological Survey said the quake had struck 14km southeast of the Algerian capital, Reuters reported. There were no reports of major damage to buildings, but four people died trying to jump from windows or escape buildings in panic. Another two died of heart attacks, a health official said.

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