US defense officials have renamed the unidentified phenomena group and expanded its mission beyond space and air After decades of being tight-lipped or publicly dismissive about the existence of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), the Pentagon is ramping up the unit that tracks such phenomena and expanding its mission to include objects that move underwater or […]
In late July, the UN General Assembly is expected to vote on a draft resolution recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Read the full story, “Why the UN General Assembly must back the right to a healthy environment”, on globalissues.org → find more fun & mates at SoShow now !
Ukraine and Russia agreed to a UN-brokered deal on grain shipments out of the Black Sea that Turkey will oversee. The food supplies are badly needed around the globe.
The CDC has reported monkeypox infections in two minors, saying both were traced back to the ‘gay men’s community’
Two children in the US have been infected with monkeypox, the nation’s first such cases involving minors, confirming spread to a segment of the population that’s considered most at risk of developing severe disease from the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the new infections on Friday, saying one of the children is a toddler living in California and the other is a non-resident visiting the US. Both children were likely infected through household transmission of the virus.
“Both of those children are traced back to individuals who come from the men-who-have-sex-with-men community, the gay men’s community,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Friday in an interview with the Washington Post. She added that monkeypox infections in children typically involve cases that are “adjacent to the community most at risk.”
Nearly 2,600 monkeypox infections have been confirmed in the US since the first case was reported in May. Although spread of the virus can come through non-sexual transmission – including contact with an infected person’s skin or his or her linens – the vast majority of infections so far have occurred in men who have sex with men.
There haven’t been any US deaths from the virus so far. Illnesses from the virus, which may cause rash and flu-like symptoms, are often relatively mild in men. However, the World Health Organization warned last month that monkeypox is potentially more dangerous for children and pregnant women. Historically, young children have died from the virus at higher rates than adults.
Walensky said the two children infected with monkeypox in the US are currently “doing well,” despite suffering some symptoms.
At least five children in Europe have been infected during the current monkeypox outbreak.
Jynneos, a vaccine for smallpox and monkeypox, has been formally approved by the US Food and Drug Administration only for adults. However, President Joe Biden’s administration has reportedly made the inoculation available in a handful of pediatric cases.
In late July, the UN General Assembly is expected to vote on a draft resolution recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The deal would allow Ukraine to resume shipments of grain from the Black Sea to world markets and Russia to export grain and fertilizers, ending a standoff that has threatened world food security.
The move follows months of turmoil in the country that saw a new president elected
Sri Lankan security forces raided an anti-government protest camp outside the presidential office in Colombo on Friday. It comes amid a months-long political crisis sparked by a financial meltdown.
“A joint operation involving the military, police and police special forces was launched in the early hours to recover the presidential secretariat from the protesters as they have no legal right to hold it,” police spokesperson Nalin Thalduwa told Reuters news agency.
According to police, the raid led to nine arrests, two of those detained were injured. The organizers of the protest claim that at least 50 people were injured, including several journalists. They also say they planned to hand over the presidential offices peacefully, an intention the police said they had no knowledge of.
The demonstrators accused authorities of a violent crackdown. “They beat us really cruelly,” an activist told Reuters. “Mr Wickremesinghe doesn’t know what democracy is,” he added.
Media footage from the scene appears to show soldiers in riot gear, armed with rifles, marching towards the camp, known as Gota Go Gama, that had been in place since April. The name of the camp makes an apparent reference to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former president, and calls for his resignation.
The move comes after Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as president on Thursday after his predecessor fled the country and resigned. Sri Lanka has faced unrest for several months over severe food and fuel shortages and record inflation.
The crisis has been blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic, which cut tourist revenue for the island, and Rajapaksa’s ban on chemical fertilizers, which was a major blow to the agricultural sector.
LONDON, Jul 22 (IPS) – The writer is Editor-in-Chief at CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance. He is one of the lead authors for CIVICUS Lens and the 2022 State of Civil Society ReportThe UN High Commissioner for Human Rights sits at the top of the UN’s human rights system. It’s a crucial role for the victims of violations and the many civil society activists who look to the UN system to set and apply human rights norms, monitor the human rights performance of states and hold rights violators to account.
