WHO declares mpox a global public health emergency
The World Health Organization declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern at a meeting on Wednesday. The meeting came a day after the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed the disease a public health emergency for…
Ukraine presses on in Russia’s Kursk region, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday his country’s troops were “moving further” into Russia’s Kursk region and claimed that hundreds of Russian soldiers had been captured or surrendered. In the biggest offensive by a foreign army on Russian soil since…
US consumer inflation hits its lowest annual rate since 2021
U.S. consumer inflation moderated slightly in July, according to government data released Wednesday. The Consumer Price Index increased by 2.9% over the past year, the smallest rise since March 2021. This is a positive sign for the Federal Reserve, which…
Growing number of Chinese now call Japan home
Washington — Sun Lijun, a 42-year-old semiconductor engineer, says worries about the quality of air and living, childhood education and the overall economic trajectory in China are some of the reasons he and his wife first started talking about moving…
Afghanistan: 20 years of steady education progress ‘almost wiped out’
Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly forbidden to women and girls over 12. The Taliban swept back into power on 15 August 2021 and swiftly began curtailing women’s rights. Three…
No date yet for long-awaited South Sudan elections
Nicholas Haysom, who also heads the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), briefed ambassadors on political, security and humanitarian developments in the world’s youngest nation, which was scheduled to hold its first post-independence elections in December. Election date proposal expected…
Gaza remains at ‘high risk’ of polio virus spread, warn UN aid teams
“At least two rounds of [orally delivered polio vaccine] will be necessary to shut down transmission,” the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) explained in an update. The development comes after vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 was identified…
Humanitarians report rise in children killed and injured in the West Bank
The number of Palestinian children killed by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces has almost tripled since 7 October 2023, compared with the preceding 10 months, rising from 39 to 115. Similarly, the number of Palestinian boys and girls injured…
Alleged leader of cybercriminals extradited to US
The alleged leader of an international computer hacking and wire fraud operation has been extradited to the United States from Poland to face cybercrime charges in New Jersey and Virginia, U.S. officials said. Maksim Silnikau, a Belarusian and Ukrainian dual…
Biden strikes $150M blow against cancer in campaign to slash deaths
washington — President Joe Biden on Tuesday visited Louisiana’s infamous “Cancer Alley” to strike at what he identified as a top priority of his dwindling presidency: announcing $150 million in research funding toward the goal of dramatically reducing cancer deaths…