Over 400 people killed in dengue epidemic

More than 400 people died this year as one of the worst dengue epidemics on record swept through Central America — a type of outbreak that some scientists and public health officials are warning is likely to become more frequent and more widespread because of climate change.

Rising temperatures increase the range of diseasebearing mosquitoes. And increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and more extreme weather events — like intense drought or intense rainfall — contribute to the spread of the insect.

But while the entire region is now at greater risk, dengue has found an especially fertile breeding ground in Honduras, which accounted for more than 40 percent of the deaths caused by the viral disease in 2019, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

U.S. launches strikes after Somalia attack

U.S. military officials said three airstrikes conducted Sunday against al-shabaab militants in Somalia have killed four militants.

The officials say the airstrikes in coordination with the Somali government targeted al-shabaab militants responsible for terrorist acts against innocent Somali citizens.

The airstrikes came a day after a truck bombing in Somalia’s capital killed at least 78 people. Somalia’s president has blamed the alqaeda-linked al-shabaab.

U.S. Africa Command said an initial assessment concluded that two airstrikes killed two militants and destroyed two vehicles in Qunyo Barrow, and that one airstrike killed two militants in Caliyoow Barrow.

In a statement Sunday, the director of operations for U.S. Africa Command, Army Maj. Gen. William Gayler, said al-shabaab is “a global menace and their sights are set on exporting violence regionally and eventually attacking the U.S. homeland.”