UK finds 104 more cases of monkeypox as outbreak spreads
LONDON — British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease.
The U.K.’S Health Security Agency said Monday that there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or bisexual men.
Scientists warn that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is susceptible to catching monkeypox if they are in close, physical contact with an infected person or their clothing or bed sheets.
According to U.K. data, 99% of the cases have been in men and most are in London.
In May, a leading adviser to the World Health Organization said the monkeypox outbreak in Europe and beyond was likely spread by sex at two raves in Spain and Belgium.
Last week, WHO said 1,285 cases of monkeypox had been reported from 28 countries where monkeypox was not known to be endemic.
No deaths have been reported outside of Africa. After the U.K., the biggest numbers of cases have been reported in Spain, Germany and Canada.
WHO said many people in the outbreak have “atypical features” of the disease, which could make it more difficult for doctors to diagnose. The U.N. health agency also said while close contact can spread monkeypox, “it is not clear what role sexual bodily fluids ... play in the transmission.”
Meanwhile, countries in Africa have reported more than 1,500 suspected cases, including 72 deaths from eight countries. Monkeypox is considered endemic in Central and West Africa.
Infected again: President Joe Biden’s top health official has again tested positive for COVID-19, less than a month after he came down with virus symptoms while on a trip to Germany.
U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra woke up with symptoms again Monday and tested positive afterward, spokeswoman Sarah Lovenheim said.
His symptoms are mild and he is isolating in Sacramento, California.
Also, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tested positive for COVID19 for a second time just days after he met with President Joe Biden.
The positive test comes after he met with Biden and other leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. Biden took a “family photo” with Trudeau on Friday and met with him Thursday.
Trudeau also tested positive in January.
Supreme Court ruling:
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Native Americans prosecuted in certain tribal courts can also be prosecuted based on the same incident in federal court, which can result in longer sentences.
The 6-3 ruling is in keeping with an earlier ruling from the 1970s that said the same about a more widely used type of tribal court.
The case before the justices involved a Navajo Nation member, Merle Denezpi, accused of rape. He served nearly five months in jail after being charged with assault and battery in what is called a Court of Indian Offenses, a court that deals exclusively with alleged Native American offenders.
Under federal law Courts
of Indian Offenses can only impose sentences of generally up to a year. Denezpi was later prosecuted in federal court and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He said the Constitution’s “Double Jeopardy” clause should have barred the second prosecution.
But the justices disagreed. The Biden administration had argued for that result as had several states, which said barring federal prosecutions in similar cases could allow defendants to escape harsh sentences.
WWII soldier: The remains of an Ohio soldier killed while fighting in France during World War II have now been positively identified, Defense Department officials announced Monday.
Pfc. Sanford Keith Bowen, 26, of Ashland, was part of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. The unit that was attempting to secure terrain near Reipertswiller, France, in January 1945 when they
were surrounded by German forces, officials said.
Only two men from his company made it through German lines, and the rest were captured or killed. Bowen’s body could not be immediately recovered due to the heavy fighting.
Historians with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said their scientists used anthropological analysis to identify Bowen.
Bowen will be buried July 22 in Shiloh.
Israeli coalition: A member of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s party said Monday he would cease voting with the governing coalition, dealing yet another blow to the teetering government as it marks one year in office.
Nir Orbach, a lawmaker with the religious-nationalist Yemina party, was the latest member of the ruling alliance to abandon support in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
A trickle of defections and rebellions in recent weeks has left Bennett’s coalition of
eight divergent parties without a clear majority to pass legislation, raising questions about how long it can survive.
Bennett’s government was sworn in last June after four deadlocked elections that were largely referendums on longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s fitness to rule while on trial for corruption.
Bennett’s coalition ranges from dovish liberals to hawkish ultranationalists and a small Islamist faction. They are united in their opposition to Netanyahu but have little else in common.
Burkina Faso violence:
Gunmen killed at least 55 people over the weekend in northern Burkina Faso, authorities said Monday, the latest attack in the West African country where mounting violence is blamed on Islamic extremists.
Suspected militants targeted civilians in Seytenga in Seno province, government spokesman Wendkouni Joel Lionel Bilgo said at a news conference. While
the government put the official toll at 55, others put the figure far higher.
Attacks linked to al-qaida and the Islamic State group are soaring in Burkina Faso, particularly in the north. Jihadists killed at least 160 people in an attack in the town of Solhan in June 2021.
Star survey: The European Space Agency released a trove of data Monday on almost 2 billion stars in the Milky Way, collected by its Gaia space observatory in an effort to create the most accurate and complete map of our galaxy.
Astronomers hope to use the data to understand better how stars are born and die, and how the Milky Way evolved over billions of years.
The new data includes new information such as the age, mass, temperature and chemical composition of stars. This can be used, for example, to determine which stars were born in another galaxy and then migrated to the Milky Way.