World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced yesterday that the nearly year-old Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now a public health emergency of international concern. It is the fifth such declaration in WHO history.
 
The health crisis, which has unfolded in a conflict zone, has killed more than 1,600 people (AP) since it began last August. WHO officials held off on issuing an emergency declaration in the DRC on three previous occasions, prompting criticism from many health experts. The move came after the outbreak was reported to have reached Goma (NYT), a border city of two million people. The WHO said that since February it has received only half the money necessary to address the crisis, and the agency called on countries to increase their support and to keep borders open to facilitate aid deliveries.

The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, meeting with officials in Seoul (VOA) yesterday, said the United States aims to help the two countries resolve a growing trade dispute, sparked by new restrictions on high-tech exports to South Korea. He visited Japan earlier in the week. 
 
CFR’s Sheila A. Smith looks at whether the Tokyo-Seoul rift can be resolved.
 
Japan: A suspected arson attack (WaPo) at an animation studio in Kyoto today killed up to twenty-six people, according to officials. The animation company’s director said the studio had been receiving email threats.

Pakistani authorities yesterday arrested militant leader Hafiz Saeed (Reuters), who is suspected of planning a series of attacks in Mumbai in 2008. Saeed was previously arrested but released in 2017. U.S. President Donald J. Trump said the arrest was the result of U.S. pressure on Pakistan to implement tougher counterterrorism measures. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to visit Washington next week.
 
Afghanistan: A Taliban attack in the northern province of Badghis on Monday killed more than two dozen Afghan forces (RFE/RL), according to a Taliban representative and a local official. 

A gunman killed a Turkish diplomat (NYT) and two Iraqis who worked for the Turkish consulate at a restaurant in Iraqi Kurdistan yesterday. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.
 
Saudi Arabia: The U.S. House of Representatives passed three resolutions yesterday to block some $8 billion in arms sales (Politico) to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. President Trump is expected to veto the measures.

Press freedom advocates criticized tightening restrictions (VOA) on media in Burundi yesterday after the BBC announced it was closing its bureau in the city of Bujumbura. The Burundian government indefinitely suspended the BBC and Voice of America from operating in the country in March.

The White House said yesterday that Turkey will not be allowed to take part in the F-35 fighter jet program since it is moving ahead with a purchase of a Russian S-400 air defense system. Ankara called on Washington (AP) on Thursday to reverse the decision, saying it goes against the “spirit of alliance.”
 
Brussels: The European Union’s antitrust chief said yesterday that she is launching an investigation (FT) into Amazon to determine whether the company’s use of data from third-party merchants amounts to unfair competition.

Mexican cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced to life in prison (NYT) plus thirty years and ordered to pay more than $12 billion in forfeiture in a New York court yesterday. The sentencing follows his conviction earlier this year on drug, murder, and money laundering charges.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Steven Dudley writes that El Chapo’s conviction also marks the end of the big cartels.
 
Bolivia: The government announced an emergency plan to reduce gender-based killings of women (Reuters) that will include mandatory training for public employees.

The Pentagon said yesterday it will send (Reuters) an additional 1,100 active duty troops and 1,000 National Guard troops from Texas to the southern border to provide logistical support and assist in aerial surveillance.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at who secures the U.S. border.