Congolese politician is killed for defending Ebola efforts as mistrust complicates response

BUTEMBO, Congo -- Mourners gathered Wednesday to bury a Congolese politician who was beaten to death after publicly defending the government’s response to Ebola, a killing that highlights the mistrust health workers say is hampering efforts to slow the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history.Marie-Célestin Karondwa, a local official with Congo’s ruling Union for Democracy and Social Progress party, was attacked Sunday at his home in Butembo, an Ebola hotspot in the eastern North Kivu province, after defending the government’s response efforts during a radio program, the party said. “They beat him up and then set the house alight,” Sagesse Kavira, Karondwa’s granddaughter, told The Associated Press at his funeral on Wednesday. He later died from his injuries at a local hospital.The killing follows a series of attacks on health workers and other responders as the Central African nation battles its 17th and deadliest Ebola outbreak, which has so far recorded over 8,000 cases including nearly 4,000 deaths.Authorities this month launched a village-centered approach to fight the Ebola outbreak. But those efforts continue to face resistance from some residents who dismiss Ebola as a hoa...