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Heidi Vogt provides this exceptional account on the U.S. and international efort to build Liberia's healthcare system from scratch. Years of civil war till 2003 and the shortage of funds mean that even basic equipment such as X ray machines and blood testing equipment are lacking in Liberian hospitals. Even with a effort that includes the U.S. Army and Air Force planes, a 25 bed hospital for healthcare workers using tents will take till early November to be operational. Showing that the response is sorely inadequate here in Liberia leading to the spread of Ebola to Europe and the U.S. by December at the current pace. Liberia's head of Ebola control says the international community has failed Liberia with its inadequate response. For the U.S. and Europe an inadequate response creates new dangers as the public has lost confidence in government response.

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The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Johnson-Sirleaf, the first democratically elected woman president in Africa, and Leymah Gbowee, a democracy activist, of Liberia. Johnson-Sirleaf was elected in 2005, and made efforts to bring peace and development after 14 years of civil war.

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In this exceptional report from Monrovia and the countryside, NYT's Helene Cooper shows why the Ebola outbreak could occur in Liberia. Basic healthcare, functioning schools, electricity and running water were all scarce in Liberia following the civil war and military misrule in the country. Liberia was barely recovering from the severe breakdown when the Ebola outbreak occurred in 2014.

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For the first time there is a peaceful transition to a new government in Liberia following the recent election. Mr Weah, a soccer player, won 61% of the vote.

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See spectacular images of the Earth half lit by moon, and of the Atlantic/ Iberia /eastern South America in this BBC Pictures report of Artemis II Lunar Mission April 3, 2026. To take these pictures the Orion spacecraft did the lunar injection burn that took it out of earth's orbit and flung it to the far side of the moon. The spacecraft reaches the far side of the Moon on April 6 and then reaches back to Earth's orbit April 10. This is the first time it has gone this far since 1972. The sheer excitement and the enthusiasm reflected by the four astronauts and the people on planet Earth shows how the Lunar Mission and planetary Mission's bring people together from all over the planet.

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Betsy McKay reporting from Harper, Liberia, gives this exceptional report on the shattered health system of Liberia and how the country is coping following the Ebola Virus epidemic. The dilapidated poor state of health facilities in Liberia, and in neighboring Sierra Leone and Guinea, have made these areas especially vulnerable to the spread of Ebola Virus. With pictures and details about the lives of ordinary people McKay brings to life one of the poorest regions in the world, racked by years of war and neglect, showing people struggling to find their way with minimal health care. Tabeh Freeman, a professor of public health at William S. Tubman University in Harper, Liberia, says Liberia cannot cope if another epidemic takes place, with such a poorly equiped and broken health system. Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone estimate the need is for about $1.47 billion in the next 30 months to build and equip a new health system. The World Bank and other donors have come up with $1 billion for Ebola recovery. A particularly urgent problem is to see that adequate funding goes to build the infrastructure for the health system and to train people to provide health services....

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China is well positioned to cope with the cutoff of supplies of oil from the Middle East after decades of focus on building up its stocks of oil. China has made self sufficiency in energy a key goal for the economy. China uses 16 million barrels a day of oil, of which 12 million is imported, and production inside China is a little over 4 million barrels a day. It normally adds 1 million barrels a day to its stockpile inventory. This inventory stockpile is 1.2 billion barrels and is good for 100 days. China is able to make up for oil supplies by importing more from Russia. The Power of Siberia 2 pipeline for natural gas is being pushed forward for natural gas supplies from Russia to China. China has large supplies of coal for electricity. It also is increasing its capacity to make renewable energy, solar panels and wind turbines.

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Howthe airlines and the new alliances are shaping up for example Iberia, BA and American for one.

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Nineteen year old Belgian Zara Rutherford becomes the youngest woman to fly solo roundtrip around the world. Her parents are avid pilots and she learned to fly at the age of 14. She took off in a microlight plane Shark Aero on Aug 18 and landed after 52,000 kilometres of flying in Flanders on Jan. 20. She went through UK, Greenland, Americas, Siberia, Southeast Asia, India, Saudi Arabia and Europe. In that journey she went through freezing temperatures over Siberia, smog in India and wildfires over the US northwest.

She plans to study electrical engineering and would like to see more girls taking interest in science and engineering, and in flying planes.

Her approach was bold and straightforward. It was a trip that she thought was- impossible, expensive, complicated, dangerous, a logistical nightmare, so she never thought about it twice. 

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British Airways and Iberia Airlines made the winning bid for British Midland International (BMI) from Lufthansa for 172.5 million pounds. The acquisition is only for BMI's mainland carrier which serves Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This gives British Airways 56 additional daily takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow airport where it has 45% of commercial airtraffic. Lufthansa paid 223 million pounds for BMI in 1999 and when it purchased the remaining 50% of founder Michael Bishop's share in the airline in 2008.

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The drop in oil prices in 2014-2015 leads to a decline in the value of Nigeria's currency, the Naira, by over 10% in 2014. The Naira dropped to 186.9 to the dollar by Dec. 2, 2014. The foreign exchange reserves drop to $2 billion in Dec. 2014 from $20 billion in 2008. Investment in infrastructure and the electricity grid is badly needed. Imports of arms for the military add to budgetary strain as the government tackles the Boko Haram terrorist threat in the Kano region. The central bank puts out a revised budget based on an oil price of $73, as Brent crude dropped to $68. Like Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone dependent on iron ore exports, Angola and Mozambique on oil revenues, Zambia on copper, and South Africa on mining exports, much of Africa's economy is dependent on commodity exports. About 80% of Nigeria's government revenue is from oil exports, according to the IMF. And the entire budget for the nation with the largest population in Africa is only $30 billion.