Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, July 4

DALLAS, United States -- The 2026 World Cup witnessed the last team from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ousted on Friday as Egypt shut out Australia through penalty-shootout with 5-3 on aggregate here on Friday.

Only two out of nine AFC teams progressed out of the group stage, and Australia was the last hope after Japan was beaten by Brazil 2-1 on Monday. (Sports-Soccer-World Cup)

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GENEVA -- The Ebola disease outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus (BVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had claimed 452 lives among 1,460 confirmed cases as of July 1, with transmission continuing to spread into new health zones, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday.

In its latest Disease Outbreak News update, the WHO said that as of July 2, Uganda had reported 20 confirmed cases, including two deaths, as well as one probable fatal case. The last confirmed case in Uganda was recorded on June 21. Separately, on June 24, French authorities notified the WHO of a laboratory-confirmed BVD infection in a medical doctor who had returned from the DRC. (DRC-Ebola-Death)

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LONDON -- Britain's services business activity contracted at the fastest pace in nearly three and a half years in June, weighed down by subdued domestic economic conditions, ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and growing risk aversion among clients, data from S&P Global showed on Friday.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UK Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) Business Activity Index stood at 48.8 in June, down from 49.3 in May and remaining below the 50.0 no-change threshold, according to the company. (UK-Service-PMI)

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LOS ANGELES -- NASA launched a mission on Friday to raise the orbit of the agency's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, extending the operational life of the satellite.

LINK, a robotic servicing spacecraft built by Katalyst Space, was launched into orbit aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket at 4:36 a.m. Eastern Time Friday from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific Ocean. The air-launched rocket was released at an altitude of about 12,200 meters by the company's Stargazer, a modified L-1011 aircraft, before igniting its engine and carrying LINK into its planned orbit. (U.S.-Swift Observatory) Enditem