World
WHO declares monkeypox a global health emergency
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the multi-country monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of global concern.
A global emergency is WHO’s highest level of alert — the last public health emergency declared by the organisation was the COVID pandemic.
Speaking on Saturday at a media briefing on monkeypox, Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, said the decision on the emergency status was taken, despite a lack of consensus by the emergency committee of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), after reconvening following its earlier declaration that monkeypox was not yet a global health emergency.
The director-general said the risk of monkeypox is moderate globallyit has been assessed as high.
He said there is also a clear risk of further international spread, although the risk of interference with international traffic remains low for the moment.
“So, in short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the International Health Regulations,” he said.
“For all of these reasons, I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.”
Ghebreyesus said he has, therefore, made a set of recommendations for four groups of countries — those yet to report a case; those with recently imported cases of monkeypox; those with transmission of monkeypox from animals to humans; and those with manufacturing capacity for vaccines and therapeutics.
“Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern, for the moment, this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners,” he said.
“That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups.
“It’s therefore essential that all countries work closely with communities of men who have sex with men, to design and deliver effective information and services, and to adopt measures that protect both the health, human rights and dignity of affected communities.”
World
Former US President Bill Clinton hospitalised with fever
Bill Clinton, the former US president who has faced a series of health issues over the years, was admitted to hospital Monday in Washington after developing a fever, his office said.
“President Clinton was admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center this afternoon for testing and observation after developing a fever,” the 78-year-old’s deputy chief of staff Angel Urena said on social media platform X, adding Clinton “remains in good spirits.”
Bill Clinton was previously hospitalized for five nights in October 2021 due to a blood infection.
In 2004, at age 58, he underwent a quadruple bypass operation after doctors found signs of extensive heart disease. He had stents implanted in his coronary artery six years later.
The health scare motivated him to make lifestyle changes, including adopting a vegetarian diet, and he has since spoken publicly about his efforts.
Clinton’s health last made headlines in November 2022 when he tested positive for Covid-19. He said at the time that his symptoms were “mild” and he was “grateful to be vaccinated and boosted.”
Clinton, who led the United States for two presidential terms from 1993-2001, is the second-youngest living US president, after 63-year-old Barack Obama.
He was born mere months after fellow former US president George W. Bush and President-elect Donald Trump.
Though his prosperous time in office was marred by scandals, he has enjoyed a second life in the two decades after his presidency, which has seen him venture into numerous diplomatic and humanitarian causes.
World
Trump dismisses claims of handing presidency to Musk as ‘hoax’
Could Elon Musk, who holds major sway in the incoming Trump administration, one day become president? On Sunday, Donald Trump answered with a resounding no, pointing to US rules about being born in the country.
“He’s not gonna be president, that I can tell you,” Trump told a Republican conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
“You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country,” Trump said of the Tesla and SpaceX boss, who was born in South Africa.
The US Constitution requires that a president be a natural-born US citizen.
Trump was responding to criticism, particularly from the Democratic camp, portraying the tech billionaire and world’s richest person as “President Musk” for the outsized role he is playing in the incoming administration.
As per ceding the presidency to Musk, Trump also assured the crowd: “No, no that’s not happening.”
The influence of Musk, who will serve as Trump’s “efficiency czar,” has become a focus point for Democratic attacks, with questions raised over how an unelected citizen can wield so much power.
And there is even growing anger among Republicans after Musk trashed a government funding proposal this week in a blizzard of posts — many of them wildly inaccurate — to his more than 200 million followers on his social media platform X.
Alongside Trump, Musk ultimately helped pressure Republicans to renege on a funding bill they had painstakingly agreed upon with Democrats, pushing the United States to the brink of budgetary paralysis that would have resulted in a government shutdown just days before Christmas.
Congress ultimately reached an agreement overnight Friday to Saturday, avoiding massive halts to government services.
World
Seven confirmed dead in Western Mexico plane crash
At least seven people died when a light aircraft crashed Sunday in a heavily forested area of Jalisco in western Mexico, local authorities reported.
The aircraft, a Cessna 207, was flying from La Parota in the neighbouring state of Michoacan.
Jalisco Civil Protection said via its social media that the crash site was in an area that was difficult to access.
Initial authorities on the scene “reported a preliminary count of seven people dead,” who haven’t been identified yet, according to the agency.
“A fire was extinguished and risk mitigation was carried out to prevent possible additional damage,” it added.
Authorities said they were awaiting the arrival of forensic investigators to remove the bodies and rule out the presence of additional victims.
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