DR CONGO
‘Disease X’ spreads
More cases of a mysterious flu-like illness labeled “Disease X” were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the WHO has dispatched a rapid response team to help investigate. From Oct. 24 to Thursday, 406 cases of the unidentified illness — marked by fever, headache, cough, runny nose and body aches — have been reported in the Panzi health zone in the southwest, the WHO said in a statement on Sunday. While more than half of the cases involve children under five, a 50-year-old male traveler hospitalized in Lucca, Italy, is suspected to have recovered from the disease, Il Tempo reported. Thirty-one deaths have been recorded, down from 79 reported last week, the WHO said. The outbreak is centered in a remote rural area of Kwango province that is hard to access. All severe cases involve people with severe malnutrition, adding complexity to identifying an infectious source. “Laboratory tests are under way to determine the exact cause. At this stage, it is also possible that more than one disease is contributing to the cases and deaths,” the WHO said.
PHILIPPINES
Eruption sparks evacuation
Mount Kanlaon in Negros province erupted at 3:03pm yesterday, sending a huge ash column into the sky as the government called for the evacuation of surrounding villages. Rising more than 2,400m above sea level, Kanlaon is one of the nation’s 24 active volcanoes. in the Philippines. “All local government units are advised to evacuate the 6km radius from the summit of the volcano and must be prepared for additional evacuation if activity warrants,” the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement. Video clips posted by residents on social media showed a giant cauliflower-shaped grey mass of smoke billowing above Kanlaon’s crater. The seismology office said the plume rose to 3,000m above the vent, with red-hot ashes and other materials also falling on its southeastern slope.
SOUTH KOREA
Seven killed in sea collision
A fishing boat capsized early yesterday after colliding with a sand barge in waters off the nation’s southeastern coast, leaving seven crew members dead and one missing, the local coast guard and fire departments said. The 29-tonne fishing boat, which had eight passengers — three South Koreans and five Indonesians — capsized after colliding with a 456-tonne barge in waters near the city of Gyeongju, Pohang coast guard official Kim Eul-dong said. Dozens of emergency workers, along with 15 coast guard vessels and six helicopters, were mobilized to search for the missing passenger, who was Indonesian. None of the passengers from the barge were hurt.
THAILAND
Police bust ‘drug party’
Police have detained more than 120 people at a “drug party” in Bangkok, officers said yesterday. Police Colonel Pansa Amarapitak said they were tipped off about the party at a hotel early on Sunday morning. Police photos showed a room full of mostly male suspects in handcuffs and wearing nothing but underpants as officers searched them for drugs. They found 31 of the 124 people arrested were in possession of illegal narcotics, such as crystal methamphetamine, ecstasy and ketamine, Pansa said. All of them were tested for the substances and 66 were found with traces in their system. All except two were men, and about five were foreigners, he said. Police are seeking the courts’ permission to hold those suspected of drug possession for questioning beyond the 48-hour window, Pansa said. The rest have been released.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
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