News in the Humanosphere: Another UN School Hit in Gaza Killing 10

At least 10 people were killed when Israeli shells struck near a UN school in southern Gaza sheltering some 3,000 people. The condemnations were particularly strong from the USA after this latest attack on a UN school. “Israel announced a seven-hour truce in parts of Gaza on Monday after pulling many of its ground forces out of the Palestinian territory, a strategic pause that left open the possibility of a renewed large-scale assault on Hamas…Shrapnel from an Israeli missile aimed at militants on a motorcycle there tore through a United Nations school crowded with displaced Palestinians, U.N. officials said, drawing international condemnation of Israel…The Obama administration said it was “appalled by today’s disgraceful shelling”—the third fatal blast at a U.N. shelter since the conflict began.” (WSJ)

US-Africa Summit

US-African Leaders Summit Kicks off In DC: What to Expect? “Over 50 African countries will be represented in DC this week for the first ever U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit. The high-level gathering, which will bring together presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers from a majority of African nations, and will be a unique opportunity to deepen and widen the U.S.-Africa relationship on a number of fronts. Here are a few key areas to watch during this week’s summit.” (UN Dispatch)

Official Schedule from the White House

Some analysis from Todd Moss of the Center for Global Development

Africa

WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said health and relief workers have been trying to educate families in the Ebola affected regions of West Africa about how to bury their loved ones without exposing themselves to the virus. He said people who touch the dead could be putting themselves at risk. (VOA)

Talks between South Sudan’s warring parties about the formation of a transitional government failed to take off this week as aid officials battled to address a worsening humanitarian crisis in oil producing regions from the devastating seven-month conflict. (WSJ)

An American aid worker infected with the deadly Ebola virus while in Liberia seems to be improving but authorities are monitoring his condition closely, the top U.S. health official said on Sunday. (Reuters)

The worst Ebola outbreak in history is heaping new pressure on US regulators to speed the development of treatments for the deadly virus, which has killed more than 700 people since February. (Reuters)

MENA

United Nations humanitarian officials have warned of a widespread health disaster in the Gaza Strip unless the ongoing fighting stops immediately. The officials Saturday criticized the lack of protection for doctors and medical facilities in Gaza, saying the region’s medical services are on the verge of collapse. (VOA)

Egypt has increased the amount of electricity it provides to Gaza and urged Israel to repair power lines damaged during Israeli bombardment that has left at least one million people without electricity, an Egyptian official said. (Reuters)

Asia

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southwestern China on Sunday, killing at least 150 people in a remote mountainous area of Yunnan province, causing some buildings, including a school, to collapse. (VOA)

China suffered its worst industrial accident in a year on Saturday when an explosion killed at least 69 people and injured more than 120 at a factory that makes wheels for U.S. carmakers, including General Motors. (VOA)

Sri Lanka must stop deporting Pakistani asylum seekers, a practice banned under international law, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said. (Reuters)

A vaccine worker in Pakistan explains why she continues doing her work, despite deadly attacks by the Taliban. (NPR)

Afghanistan’s troubled presidential election plunged deeper into crisis on Sunday when one of the main contenders accused a deputy of President Hamid Karzai of orchestrating fraud in favor of his rival. (VOA)

There is no chance of finding any of the more than 150 people who are believed to have been buried by a massive landslide in northern Nepal, an official said Sunday, as rescuers struggled to dig through piles of rock, mud and trees. (AP)

More than 400,000 people in eastern India face the risk of flooding after a landslide that killed at least nine people in neighboring Nepal, an Indian government official said on Sunday, as thousands were being evacuated. (Reuters)

The Americas

The number of unaccompanied minor immigrants who have crossed into the United States has officially surpassed the 60,000 expected in the Obama administration’s initial estimates, according to Department of Homeland Security data. (CNN)

Following a presidential election in Panama earlier this year, John Kerry, now US Secretary of State, congratulated the country on its “peaceful and orderly.” Has Panama genuinely moved from a “narco-kleptocracy” to a peaceful and orderly democracy in just 25 years? (BBC)

Opinion/Blogs