In brief: Billionaire Allen to add $100 million to fight Ebola
SEATTLE – Billionaire Paul Allen says he’ll contribute at least $100 million to the fight against Ebola.
The Microsoft co-founder said Thursday that among the initiatives he’s supporting is the development of two medevac containment units that the U.S. State Department can use to safely evacuate health workers who become infected.
Allen said he’s working with the World Health Organization to increase its capacity for handling the logistics of transporting international aid workers, and he’s establishing a fund to help cover the costs of emergency transportation of the workers.
Money will also go to the University of Massachusetts Medical School to help provide decontamination and lab equipment to Liberian hospitals, as well as community outreach and education in Liberia.
Allen’s foundation previously pledged $26.5 million. He’s urging people to give to the cause at www.tackleebola.com.
Plane, copter collide midair
FREDERICK, Md. – An airplane and a helicopter collided in the air near a Maryland airport before crashing into a line of trees and a self-storage business Thursday afternoon, killing three people but sparing two men in the plane, who deployed a parachute attached to the aircraft before it hit the trees.
The Cirrus SR22 plane was heading to the Frederick Municipal Airport and a Robinson R44 helicopter was engaged in a training exercise when the collision occurred near the southwest corner of the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear if the three people who died were all on the helicopter, or if someone on the ground was killed.
Asian nations join bank
BEIJING – China and 21 other Asian nations have signed on to a new international bank for Asia opposed by Washington as an unnecessary rival to established institutions such as the World Bank.
Representatives signed a memorandum of understanding today at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Those taking part included regional economic powers India and Qatar. Absent were close U.S. allies South Korea and Australia.
China proposed the bank a year ago and has said it will provide most if not all of the initial $50 billion in capital.
States defy rulings for gays
WASHINGTON – Kansas, Montana and South Carolina leaders are fighting against same-sex marriages even though federal appeals courts that oversee those states have made clear that keeping gay and lesbian couples from marrying is unconstitutional.
Officials in the three states are refusing to allow same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses without a court order directing them to do so. It could be another month or more before the matter is settled.
There seems little doubt that federal judges presiding over same-sex marriage lawsuits will ultimately set aside the states’ anti-gay marriage laws. The judges are bound by the appeals court rulings.