While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 16
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A doctor in the Democratic Republic of Congo checks skin lesions on the ear of a young mpox sufferer.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mpox case in Sweden; WHO warns more to come in Europe
The WHO on Aug 15 warned further imported cases of the new, more dangerous mpox strain in Europe were likely, after Sweden announced the first such infection outside Africa in an outbreak that has killed hundreds in the DR Congo.
The case recorded in a traveller in Sweden was announced the day after the World Health Organisation declared the mpox surge in Africa a public health emergency of international concern - the highest alarm it can sound.
The UN health agency was concerned by the rise in cases and fatalities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the spread to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
Sweden’s Public Health Agency told AFP on Aug 15 that it had registered a case of the Clade 1b subclade - the same new strain of the virus that has surged in the DRC since September 2023.
Advancing Ukraine opens military office in Russia’s Kursk
Ukraine’s top commander said on Aug 15 Kyiv had set up a military commandant’s office in the occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region where he said his forces were still advancing, even as Moscow’s troops stepped up its offensives in Ukraine’s east.
The remarks by Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi were the strongest sign yet that Kyiv’s forces plan to dig in after launching a lightning cross-border assault on Russia last week that has opened a new front in the two-and-a-half-year-old all-out war.
“We are moving forward in Kursk region. A military commandant’s office has been created which must ensure order and also all the needs of the local population,” Col-Gen Syrskyi said, in a written statement on his Telegram channel.
US vice-presidential candidates agree to Oct debate
The running mates of White House rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have agreed to face off in at least one vice-presidential debate, accepting an invitation from CBS News for an Oct 1 showdown.
CBS posted on Aug 14 on social media platform X that it had offered four potential debates in September and October to Democratic Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Ohio’s Republican senator J.D. Vance.
“See you on Oct 1, JD,” Mr Walz replied, before the Harris campaign officially confirmed that it had accepted the date, which comes after early voting already started in several states.
Tottenham suspend Bissouma over laughing gas video
Tottenham Hotspur have suspended midfielder Yves Bissouma for Spurs’ Premier League opener on Aug 19 at Leicester City after a video showing him inhaling nitrous oxide was posted on social media.
The 27-year-old apologised after last weekend’s incident involving the Class C substance also known as laughing gas.
“He won’t be available on Monday. We’ve suspended him for Monday’s game,” manager Ange Postecoglou told reporters at his pre-match news conference on Aug 15.
Five charged over death of Friends star Matthew Perry
US prosecutors said on Aug 15 they have charged five people, including two doctors, over the death of Friends star Matthew Perry, who died at his Los Angeles home in 2023 after years of struggling with addiction.
“These defendants took advantage of Mr Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr Perry, but they did it anyway,” said US Attorney Martin Estrada.
The five include two doctors and the actor’s assistant.
