China will keep assisting African countries in fight against Ebola: foreign ministry

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that China will continue to assist African countries and provide the support needed to bring an early end to the Ebola outbreak, as the virus continues to spread.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian referred to the recent deployment of a third Chinese medical team to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as an example of Chinese assistance.

Lin said that in the wake of the Ebola outbreak in Africa, China has taken the situation seriously and sent multiple medical expert teams there including the DRC to fight the outbreak, which has been highly commended.

The third medical expert team is composed of experts in epidemiology, health quarantine, clinical treatment, and pathogen laboratory testing. Building on the work of the previous teams, the team will continue to strengthen exchanges and coordination with the DRC and international organizations in light of the needs of epidemic prevention and control, according to Lin.

With the Ebola outbreak still spreading, China will continue to bring to bear its medical professionals on the continent, assist African countries and provide the support needed to bring an early end to the outbreak, Lin said.

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC has become the largest ever recorded in the country, surpassing the 2018-2020 epidemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Aug 1.

By July 30, the DRC had reported 3,605 confirmed cases of Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus, with 1,587 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of 44 percent.

China will keep assisting African countries in fight against Ebola: foreign ministry

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday that ongoing talks between Iran and Oman were "positive" at both the technical and political levels, and were focused on designating safe routes for maritime passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

The negotiations are continuing, Baghaei told state-run IRIB TV, saying that Iran seeks to develop mechanisms with Oman to manage future shipping traffic through the strategic strait.

He said any new routes must safeguard the sovereign rights and national security of both Iran and Oman, adding that the final results will be announced after the talks' conclusion. Meanwhile, state-run Press TV on Tuesday cited a senior Iranian official as saying that once operational, the new corridor will replace the existing northern and southern routes.

The official described the measure as defensive and "fully consistent with the rights of any sovereign state to protect its territorial waters from external threats."

Iran tightened its grip on the strait on Feb 28, barring safe passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iranian territory.

The U.S. military launched multiple waves of strikes against Iranian targets last month, saying they were in response to Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and aimed at "degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping." Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting U.S. military bases and facilities in the region.

Iran says ongoing talks with Oman "positive," focused on creating safe routes in Strait of Hormuz