Europe must prepare for more mpox cases: EU health agency

Jakob Forssmed, Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health speaks during a press conference to inform about the situation regarding mpox, in Stockholm on Aug. 15, 2024. (Reuters)

Short Url

https://arab.news/8dkj2

Updated 16 August 2024

AFP

August 16, 2024 15:25

Europe must prepare for more mpox cases: EU health agency

ECDC said the overall risk for the general population in the EU and European Economic Area remained “low“
However, it “recommends that public health authorities in the EU/EEA maintain high levels of preparedness planning and awareness-raising activities

Updated 16 August 2024

AFP

August 16, 2024 15:25

STOCKHOLM: The European Union health agency on Friday urged its member states to get ready for more cases of a deadly strain of mpox, a day after Sweden announced the first case outside Africa.
In a risk assessment, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the overall risk for the general population in the EU and European Economic Area (EAA) — 30 countries altogether — remained “low.”
However, it “recommends that public health authorities in the EU/EEA maintain high levels of preparedness planning and awareness-raising activities to enable rapid detection and response.”
The Stockholm-based health body said more imported cases to Europe were “highly likely.”
“Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must be prepared for more imported clade I cases,” ECDC director Pamela Rendi-Wagner said in a statement.
The World Health Organization (WHO) this week declared the rapid spread of the new, more dangerous mpox strain, dubbed Clade 1b, a public health emergency of international concern — the highest alarm the UN agency can sound.
The virus has swept through the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 548 people so far this year, the country’s government said.
Sweden and Pakistan have this week reported the first cases of the virus outside of Africa, with the WHO warning further imported cases of the new strain in Europe were likely.
In an updated risk assessment, the ECDC said that the “overall risk for the EU/EEA general population is currently assessed as low, based on a very low likelihood and a low impact.”
However, it added in the statement that the likelihood of infection for people from Europe “traveling to affected areas who have close contact with affected communities is high.”
“Additionally, there is a moderate risk for close contacts of possible or confirmed imported cases” to Europe.
The infectious disease is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by animals but can also spread human-to-human through close physical contact.
It causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.

Topics: Sweden EU European Economic Area mpox outbreak

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

Updated 2 sec ago

November 03, 2024 08:27

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

Updated 2 sec ago

November 03, 2024 08:27

Taipei: Taiwan said it detected 37 Chinese fighter jets, drones and other aircraft near the self-ruled island on Sunday as Beijing carried out “long-distance” training flights.
China has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years as Beijing pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty over the island.
The Chinese aircraft were spotted from 9:00 am (0100 GMT) and 35 of them crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China and Taiwan, and entered Taiwanese airspace on their way to the Western Pacific Ocean, the defense ministry said.
Taiwan’s military responded by deploying aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems, the ministry said.
The exercise came a day after Taiwan said it had detected a Chinese military “joint combat readiness patrol” around the island involving fighter jets and warships.
Taiwan spotted 27 Chinese aircraft and six warships in the 24 hours to 6:00 am on Sunday, the ministry said earlier.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has refused to rule out the use of force to bring the democratic island under its control.
Beijing held large-scale military drills around Taiwan last month, which were condemned by Taipei and its key backer the United States.
The Chinese military conducted long-distance training flights in late September, the ministry said previously, when Beijing also fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean.

Russian drone attack on Kyiv damages buildings, power lines, Ukraine says

Updated 03 November 2024

Reuters

November 03, 2024 06:00

Russian drone attack on Kyiv damages buildings, power lines, Ukraine says

There were no injuries in the attack that came in waves and approached the city from different directions

Updated 03 November 2024

Reuters

November 03, 2024 06:00

KYIV: A Russian air attack on Kyiv damaged buildings, roads and several power lines in the city, the capital’s military administration said early on Sunday, after the military said air defenses were trying to repel a drone attack.
There were no injuries in the attack, which came in waves and approached the city from different directions, Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Popko said there was no fire, amending the administration’s earlier account that emergency crews had been dispatched to the site of a fire in the Shevchenkivskyi district that it said had been caused by the attack.
It was Russia’s second drone attack on Kyiv in as many nights. According to preliminary information, all of the attack drones were destroyed, Popko added. It was not immediately clear how many drones were launched at Kyiv.
Falling drone debris damaged an entrance and windows of at least five buildings in the Shevchenkivskyi and Holosiivskyi districts, including a hostel and windows in an office building, Popko said.
The military posted several photos on Telegram showing a blown-out entrance to a building, damaged windows in another and power lines lying on the road.
Reuters witnesses reported hearing blasts and seeing plumes of smoke rising from above residential buildings.
Shevchenkivskyi district near Kyiv’s center is a busy area with a cluster of universities, restaurants and tourist attractions. Holosiivskyi district is home to a large national park. Both districts lie on the western bank of the Dnipro River.
Kyiv, its surrounding region and the vast majority of the eastern half of Ukraine were intermittently under air raid alerts for most of the night, according to alerts issued on social media by the Ukrainian military.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Win the vote but still lose? Behold America’s Electoral College

Updated 03 November 2024

AFP

November 03, 2024 06:26

Win the vote but still lose? Behold America’s Electoral College

What matters most in a US presidential election is who gets more than 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes, regardless of who gets the most popular votes
Because many states predictably lean Republican or Democratic, presidential candidates focus heavily on the handful of “swing” states on which the election will likely turn

Updated 03 November 2024

AFP

November 03, 2024 06:26

WASHINGTON: When political outsider Donald Trump defied polls and expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election, he described the victory as “beautiful.”
Not everyone saw it that way — considering that Democrat Clinton had received nearly three million more votes nationally than her Republican rival. Non-Americans were particularly perplexed that the second-highest vote-getter would be the one crowned president.
But Trump had done what the US system requires: win enough individual states, sometimes by very narrow margins, to surpass the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the White House.
Now, on the eve of the 2024 election showdown between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, the rules of this enigmatic and, to some, outmoded, system is coming back into focus.

The 538 members of the US Electoral College gather in their state’s respective capitals after the quadrennial presidential election to designate the winner.
A presidential candidate must obtain an absolute majority of the “electors” — or 270 of the 538 — to win.

The system originated with the US Constitution in 1787, establishing the rules for indirect, single-round presidential elections.
The country’s Founding Fathers saw the system as a compromise between direct presidential elections with universal suffrage, and an election by members of Congress — an approach rejected as insufficiently democratic.
Because many states predictably lean Republican or Democratic, presidential candidates focus heavily on the handful of “swing” states on which the election will likely turn — nearly ignoring some large states such as left-leaning California and right-leaning Texas.
Over the years, hundreds of amendments have been proposed to Congress in efforts to modify or abolish the Electoral College. None has succeeded.
Trump’s 2016 victory rekindled debate. And if the 2024 race is the nail-biter that most polls predict, the Electoral College will surely return to the spotlight.

Who are the electors?

Most are local elected officials or party leaders, but their names do not appear on ballots.
Each state has as many electors as it has members in the US House of Representatives (a number dependent on the state’s population), plus the Senate (two in every state, regardless of size).
California, for example, has 54 electors; Texas has 40; and sparsely populated Alaska, Delaware, Vermont and Wyoming have only three each.
The US capital city, Washington, also gets three electors, despite having no voting members in Congress.
The Constitution leaves it to states to decide how their electors’ votes should be cast. In every state but two (Nebraska and Maine, which award some electors by congressional district), the candidate winning the most votes theoretically is allotted all that state’s electors.

How do electors vote?

In November 2016, Trump won 306 electoral votes, well more than the 270 needed.
The extraordinary situation of losing the popular vote but winning the White House was not unprecedented.
Five presidents have risen to the office this way, the first being John Quincy Adams in 1824.
More recently, the 2000 election resulted in an epic Florida entanglement between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.
Gore won nearly 500,000 more votes nationwide, but when Florida — ultimately following a US Supreme Court intervention — was awarded to Bush, it pushed his Electoral College total to 271 and a hair’s-breadth victory.

Nothing in the Constitution obliges electors to vote one way or another.
If some states required them to respect the popular vote and they failed to do so, they were subjected to a simple fine. But in July 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that states could impose punishments on such “faithless electors.”
To date, faithless electors have never determined a US election outcome.

When do electors vote?

Electors will gather in their state capitals on December 17 and cast votes for president and vice president. US law states they “meet and cast their vote on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December.”
On January 6, 2025, Congress will convene to certify the winner — a nervously watched event this cycle, four years after a mob of Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol attempting to block certification.
But there is a difference. Last time, it was Republican vice president Mike Pence who, as president of the Senate, was responsible for overseeing the certification. Defying heavy pressure from Trump and the mob, he certified Biden’s victory.
This time, the president of the Senate — overseeing what normally would be the pro forma certification — will be none other than today’s vice president: Kamala Harris.
On January 20, the new president is to be sworn in.

Topics: US Election 2024 US Election 2024 Spotlight US electoral college Donald Trump Kamala Harris

Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling

Updated 03 November 2024

Reuters

November 03, 2024 05:49

Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling

Pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu faces Alexandr Stoianoglo, an ex-prosecutor general backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party
Sandu won 42 percent of the vote in the first round, falling short of the 50 percent needed to win outright, while Stoianoglo came second with 26 percent

Updated 03 November 2024

Reuters

November 03, 2024 05:49

CHISINAU: Moldovans vote on Sunday in a presidential runoff that has been overshadowed by election meddling allegations and could see Moscow gain more influence in a diplomatic battleground between Russia and the European Union.
Pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu, who has accelerated the southeast European nation’s push to leave Moscow’s orbit and join the EU, faces Alexandr Stoianoglo, an ex-prosecutor general backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party.
The fortunes of Sandu, who set Moldova on the long path of EU accession talks in June, will be closely followed in Brussels a week after Georgia, another ex-Soviet state hoping to join, re-elected a ruling party seen as increasingly pro-Russian.
Stoianoglo says that as president he too would back EU integration but also develop ties with Russia in the national interest. He has vowed to try to revive cheap Russian gas supplies and said he would meet with President Vladimir Putin if Moldovans wanted it.
The outcome of the vote is likely to set the tone for next summer’s parliamentary elections where Sandu’s ruling party is expected to struggle to retain its majority and which will determine the stripe of the future government.
Stoianoglo’s East-West balancing rhetoric contrasts with Sandu’s four years in power, during which ties with the Kremlin have unraveled, a slew of Moscow’s diplomats have been expelled and she has condemned Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Moscow has said that her government is “Russophobic.”
Sandu portrays Stoianoglo as the Kremlin’s man and a political Trojan horse, painting Sunday’s vote as a choice between a bright future in the EU by 2030 and one of uncertainty and instability.
Stoianoglo says that is untrue and that she has failed to look out for the interests of ordinary Moldovans. He accuses Sandu of divisive politics in a country that has a Romanian-speaking majority and large Russian-speaking minority.

Fresh meddling allegations
The police have cracked down to try to avoid a repeat of what they said was a vast vote-buying scheme deployed by Russian-backed fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor in the first round and a referendum on the EU’s aspirations on Oct. 20.
Russia denies interfering, while Shor has denied wrongdoing. He lives in Russia and has openly called on people via social media to vote against Sandu and promised payment for following his instructions.
Sandu has said the meddling affected the Oct. 20 results and that Shor sought to buy the votes of 300,000 people, more than 10 percent of the population.
A Moldovan government source said Chisinau had notified several EU nations that it believed Russia would try to disrupt voting by Moldovan expatriates on Sunday at polling stations in their countries.
The source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters polling stations in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Romania, United States and Britain might be targeted by disruption including with the use of bomb hoaxes.
Moldovan voters living in the West are seen as largely pro-European and therefore more likely to support Sandu, who has championed Moldova’s effort to join the 27-nation bloc by 2030.
The referendum result went to the wire, delivering a slender win of 50.35 percent for the pro-EU camp.
Sandu won 42 percent of the vote in the first round, falling short of the 50 percent needed to win outright. Stoianoglo came second with 26 percent.
Stoianoglo is expected to benefit from protest votes against Sandu’s handling of the economy in the poor agricultural nation of fewer than 3 million people.
Moldova struggled with the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and the effects of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of neighboring Ukraine. That sparked a huge influx of refugees and sharply reduced Russian gas supplies, causing high inflation.
Ahead of the vote, Sandu campaigned with the slogan “Save Moldova.” The opposition was quick to counter with a parody slogan: “Save Moldova from Sandu.” (Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Topics: Moldova Maia Sandu Alexandr Stoianoglo

Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Updated 03 November 2024

AFP

November 03, 2024 05:26

Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Indonesia's new president, Prabowo Subianto, has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta
Prabowo has visited more than a dozen countries including China and Australia, where he struck a key security deal
Jakarta has also kickstarted a process to join the BRICS group of emerging economies

Updated 03 November 2024

AFP

November 03, 2024 05:26

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new President Prabowo Subianto will seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts say.
Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta.
“It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter Pandie, researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The southeast Asian ASEAN bloc, which Indonesia is a member of, held joint drills with Russia in 2021, but individual member nations have never held joint exercises with Moscow.
Jakarta has billion-dollar trade ties with Moscow, but major arms imports have stalled in recent years, according to weapons watchdog SIPRI, following Western sanctions on Russia after it seized Crimea in 2014 and invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Still, Prabowo has kept alive a $1.1 billion Russian fighter jet deal he agreed in 2018 as defense minister, despite the reported threat of US sanctions.
Jakarta also refused to budge when Western nations lobbied Indonesia to disinvite Russia from the G20 summit it hosted in 2022.
Prabowo met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in July, later announcing joint naval drills that experts say indicate how Moscow will grow in significance as part of a broader foreign policy.
The five-day drills begin Monday in eastern Java where Moscow will send three corvette-class warships, a medium tanker ship, a military helicopter, and a tug boat.
“They reaffirm that we will not alienate one or two countries in the geopolitical arena,” said Anton Aliabbas, professor at the Paramadina Graduate School of Diplomacy.

Diversifying partners

During his Kremlin visit, Prabowo — a 73-year-old ex-general — said he wanted to deepen the relationship with Russia.
“We consider Russia as a great friend and I would like to continue to maintain and enhance this relationship,” Prabowo told Putin.
Before his inauguration last month, Prabowo said he wanted to build a “web of strong friendships.”
To that end he visited more than a dozen countries including China and Australia, where he struck a key security deal, and Jakarta has since kickstarted a process to join the BRICS group of emerging economies.
The new leader has already been tested at sea, with a Chinese coast guard vessel being driven away three times from Indonesian-claimed waters by Jakarta’s ships last month.
For Indonesia, the chance to host one of the world’s most advanced navies is clear.
It will allow “capacity building to be obtained” and for Jakarta to “exchange ideas” on maintaining Russian equipment it already owns, said Curie Maharani Savitri.
Indonesia has Russian-made amphibious tanks, helicopters, missiles and fighter jets in its arsenal.

Different goals

Jakarta and Moscow have different maritime goals, with Indonesia facing threats of smuggling and piracy while Russia is looking for willing allies.
Pieter said he expects the exercises to not be as advanced as annual Super Garuda Shield drills Indonesia hosts with the US and other allies.
“I think it’s an introductory phase to the military relationship between the two, especially on the naval side,” he said.
But the drills may still raise eyebrows in Washington, which has been trying to diplomatically isolate Russia.
The US embassy in Jakarta declined to comment on the drills.
For Prabowo they allow him to send a message about his new policy in the early days of his presidency, said Pieter.
“Historically, the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises. But... Indonesia has been trying to diversify its partners,” he said.
“And I think there’s an overall bigger trend of that.”

Topics: Prabowo Subianto Indonesia ASEAN

Europe must prepare for more mpox cases: EU health agency

Europe must prepare for more mpox cases: EU health agency

Why is mpox an emergency again, and how worried should I be?

Sweden reports first case of deadly mpox strain outside Africa

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

Russian drone attack on Kyiv damages buildings, power lines, Ukraine says

Russian drone attack on Kyiv damages buildings, power lines, Ukraine says

Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling

Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Win the vote but still lose? Behold America’s Electoral College

Win the vote but still lose? Behold America’s Electoral College

How the US election works, from how ballots are counted to when we will know the result

Harris, Trump nearly cross paths in North Carolina in final days of US election campaign

Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling

Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling

Moldova EU vote too close to call, president blames ‘foreign interference’

Moldova holds key polls on EU future amid fears of Russian meddling

Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Indonesia bans sales of Google smartphones days after blocking Apple’s iPhone 16

Indonesia urges UN Security Council to stop Israel from banning UNRWA

Latest updates

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

REVIEW: ‘Astro Bot’ sets new standards for platformer games

Cody Rhodes and Liv Morgan take titles at WWE Riyadh Season event

Resorts World Cruises sails maiden voyage from Dubai

Palestinians say Israel struck a Gaza clinic during a polio campaign. The army denies it

Recommended

Why both Harris and Trump have Michigan’s Arab and Muslim endorsements

How Saudi cities are enhancing quality of life, while responding to environmental challenges

How AI and fintech are redefining the banking landscape in Saudi Arabia

Search form

Print Edition

Search form

Search form

You are here

Europe must prepare for more mpox cases: EU health agency

Europe must prepare for more mpox cases: EU health agency

Related

Taiwan detects 37 Chinese aircraft near island

Russian drone attack on Kyiv damages buildings, power lines, Ukraine says

Related

Win the vote but still lose? Behold America’s Electoral College

Related

Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling

Related

Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Related

Latest updates

Recommended

Search form

Print Edition