BBC在线收听下载:美通知非紧急政府人员尽快离开伊拉克

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

The United States has told all non-emergency government staff to leave Iraq as soon as possible. The order issued by the US State Department comes after officials accused Iran of planning attacks in the region and warning of the threat posed by anti-US militias. Here's Sebastian Usher.

The US State Department told staff affected in the embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil that they should leave Iraq by commercial transport as soon as possible. An earlier statement told US citizens not to travel to Iraq and those already there to be vigilant, but did not order them to leave. The US has expressed its concern on many occasions over the presence of Iranian-backed forces in Iraq. They played an important role in the battle against the Islamic State group, but now America sees them as a threat. This latest move will add to the sense of a looming showdown between the US and Iran that both sides deny they're seeking war.

Sudan's military rulers and opposition leaders are working out the makeup of the top-tier sovereign council as they finalize conditions for a three-year transition to a civilian administration. Both sides have been insisting they should have a majority in the council, which the army currently runs.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola response coordinator says health workers are dying unnecessarily of the virus because of poor training. Aaron Aruna says ninety three health workers have been infected and thirty four have died since last August.

Our strategy is to better equip health training centers and raise the numbers of properly trained health workers. We are also planning to reenforce health controls in high risk zones by dispatching medical teams in charge of assisting and supervising health workers. There is also a lot to do to improve awareness and better inform people about the disease.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he'll imposed reforms to boost South Africa's flagging economy, tackle unemployment and fix the state's ailing power firm Eskom. Mr. Ramaphosa said the measures would be implemented with greater speed over the ANC's new five-year term. Vumani Mkhize reports from Johannesburg. President Cyril Ramaphosa says the jobless rate in the country gives them sleepless nights, adding that government is working on measures to stimulate economic growth that will aid job creation. He also called on the private sector to create one million job opportunities for young people in the next three years. According to Ramaphosa, state power utility Eskom, which has around thirty billion dollars of debt on its books will not be allowed to fail. He says the credible business plan is already being implemented. He also ease labor union concerns by stating the state utility will not be privatized.

BBC news.