BBC在线收听下载:欧洲荨麻疹病例激增

Hello, I'm Jerry Smit with the BBC News.

New figures from the World Health Organization show there were more reported cases of measles in Europe in the first six months of the year than in any twelve month period this decade. The organization has called for immediate measures to be taken. Here's Danny Aeberhard. The figures are worrying. There're already nearly eight times higher than for the whole of 2016. At least 37 people have died. More than half the cases have been in Ukraine, but France, Russia, Greece and Italy are among the other countries that have registered more than a thousand cases so far this year. Most of those affected are children under sixteen. The WHO is pushing to ensure that at least 95 percent of people are vaccinated, the threshold for preventing outbreaks. But it's hampered in part due to fears over vaccine safety, unfounded according to the scientific consensus.

Advocates for victims of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergymen say they are disappointed by Pope Francis's letter condemning priests' behavior and promising to hold them accountable. One American activist said a better disciplinary system is needed while others have urged the pontiff to spell out exactly what measures will be taken to hold priests and church leaders responsible for their actions. Kallen May has this report. Abuse victims have complained the letter does not set out what that accountability means. In one paragraph of his letter, the Pope sharply criticizes clericalism, the practice of holding priests and bishops in higher regard than laypeople, in many cases, protecting them and their reputations. Changing that aspect of catholicism will be a substantial hurdle to riding the church of the stain of abuse.

More than 70 people have been arrested during protests in the Ugandan capital Kampala. Demonstrators were protesting against the alleged torture of opposition MPs including the popular musician Bobi Wine. His family says his condition is deteriorating and that he was injected with an unknown substance. Catherine Byaruhanga reports. Soldiers and police officers can be seen on the back of pickup trucks speeding through the city centre. In parts of Kampala, security officers have shot rounds of live bullets in the air and fired tear gas to disperse crowds. Tension is mounting in the capital following the detention of the lawmaker and musician Bobi Wine, especially after reports emerged that he had been tortured whilst in military custody. President Yoweri Museveni has denied allegations Bobi Wine is injured. Several people have been detained including a Reuters photo journalists covering the protests.

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