Liberia ending curfew as Ebola threat eases

MONROVIA, Liberia – Liberia’s president on Friday ordered officials to lift an overnight curfew put in place six months ago to fight the Ebola epidemic and to reopen the country’s land border crossings.

The new orders from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, which take effect Sunday, offer another sign that normal life is resuming in the West African nation as officials work toward eradicating the disease entirely.

Once the center of the worst Ebola outbreak in history, Liberia has recorded more than 9,000 confirmed, suspected and probable cases and 3,900 deaths.

Suicide bombings kill scores in Libya

TRIPOLI, Libya – Islamic State militants unleashed suicide bombings Friday in eastern Libya, killing at least 40 people in what the group said was retaliation for Egyptian airstrikes against the extremists’ aggressive new branch in North Africa.

The bombings in the town of Qubba, which is controlled by Libya’s internationally recognized government, solidified concerns the extremist group has spread beyond the battlefields of Iraq and Syria and established a foothold less than 500 miles from the southern tip of Italy.

Associated Press