VOA news for Thursday, November 27th, 2014

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Thursday, November 27th, 2014
From Washington, this is VOA news. The Midwestern U.S. city of St. Louis sees a third day of street protests against a ruling in a controversial shooting incident, and the U.N. Security Council expresses alarm about the situation in Libya. I'm Michael Lipin.


The Midwestern U.S. city of St. Louis has seen a third day of protests against a grand jury's decision not to indict a local white policeman for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager in August.

Hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the St. Louis City Hall on Wednesday, chanting "Shame, Shame." Police arrested three people for failing to disperse and charged one of them with assault.

The August shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson inflamed racial tensions in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. Many of its black residents have complained that the shooting is part of a wider problem of discrimination against them by the town's predominantly white police force.

Wilson has denied any racial motivation behind the shooting, saying he opened fire in self-defense against a heavily-built youth who assaulted and charged at him.


The U.N. Security Council has expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in Libya and its impact on regional peace and stability.

In a statement on Wednesday, the 15-member Council said there is no military solution to the Libyan crisis and condemned the recent escalation of violence in the country.

Libya's government and parliament took refuge in remote eastern regions after Islamist militias seized the country's western-based capital, Tripoli, in August.

The U.N. Security Council urged all parties to support efforts by special U.N. representative Bernardino Leon to resume an inclusive political process in Libya.


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Health workers in West Africa are preparing to launch medical trials for potential treatments for the Ebola virus which the World Health Organization says has killed almost 5,700 people in the region. VOA's Anne Look has the story.

In December, scientists will begin testing three possible treatments for Ebola at clinics in Guinea and Liberia run by Doctors Without Borders. They will be testing two antiviral drugs as well as a treatment using the blood and plasma of Ebola survivors whose antibodies may help other patients fight off the virus.

MSF says these trials are "accelerated" and mark "unprecedented international" collaboration.

Still, MSF medical director, Annick Antierens, says, "Don't expect a miracle cure just yet." She says any treatment will be more effective when it's given early, before the virus spreads everywhere in the body, but not all patients come in during the first 48 hours. But these trials are just the beginning. She says there are other drugs they can test. People evacuated and treated in the U.S. and Europe have been getting combinations of treatments, so that's an option as well.

Anne Look, VOA news, Dakar.


The top military commander of the NATO alliance says a large number of Russian troops are still operating in eastern Ukraine providing a backbone to separatists fighting Ukrainian government forces.

NATO Commander U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove discussed the issue with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv on Wednesday.

He also spoke to reporters about the alleged presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.

"It's less about the exact number, it's more about the fact that there is a great force there that can be exerted if it's required. Inside Ukraine we still see a large number of Russians who are involved primarily in training, advising, assisting and helping the forces of the Russian-backed forces in the east."

Breedlove says the United States remains committed to providing Ukraine with financial support, equipment and expert advice to help it respond more effectively to the situation in eastern Ukraine.


And Hong Kong authorities cleared a major protest camp on Wednesday and arrested two leaders of the Occupy movement, which is calling for greater democracy in the autonomous Chinese territory.

Police detained dozens of protesters during an operation to clear barricades from a road in the Mong Kok neighborhood.

Scuffles broke out when some protesters tried to prevent workers from tearing down the barricades on Nathan Road, a six-lane highway that have been blocked by protesters for two months.


I'm Michael Lipin.

That's the latest world news from VOA.