What is mpox and what does the WHO emergency declaration mean?

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared mpox a global health emergency in response to the growing number of cases in Africa.

Mpox belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox but causes milder symptoms like fever, chills and body aches. People with more serious cases can develop characteristic lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.

Formerly known as monkeypox, the virus that was first identified by scientists in 1958 when there were outbreaks of a “pox-like” disease in monkeys. The name was changed to mpox because it is inaccurate, with scientists suggesting that the virus may have actually originated from rodents.

This week WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the emergence and spread of a new variant of mpox as “very worrying”.

“It’s clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives,” he said, as he raised concerns about the virus’s spread across international borders.

More than 14,000 mpox cases and 524 deaths have been reported in Africa this year alone, with more than 96 per cent of fatalities reported from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is the second time in two years that the WHO has expressed deep concern about the virus, which first seized global attention in 2022.

The WHO’s emergency declaration is aimed at spurring donor agencies and countries into action. But the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.

Africa CDC director general Dr Jean Kaseya said his own agency’s declaration of a public health emergency was meant “to mobilise our institutions, our collective will and our resources to act swiftly and decisively.” He appealed to Africa’s international partners for help, saying that the escalating caseload in Africa had largely been ignored.

“It’s clear that current control strategies aren’t working and there is a clear need for more resources,” said Michael Marks, a professor of medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “If a (global emergency declaration) is the mechanism to unlock these things, then it is warranted,” he said.

For decades most human cases of mpox were seen in people in central and West Africa who had close contact with infected animals.

The WHO declared its first mpox emergency in 2022 when the virus was confirmed to spread via sex for the first time, triggering outbreaks in more than 70 countries across the world that had never previously reported cases.

Cases plunged dramatically after a sustained campaign to deliver vaccines. However, it remained endemic to certain parts of Africa where the vaccines could not be delivered.

The number of cases this year has jumped dramatically, already exceeding last year’s figure. Last week, the Africa CDC reported that mpox has now been detected in at least 13 African countries. Compared with the same period last year, the agency said cases are up 160 per cent and deaths have increased by 19 per cent.

Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in a Congolese mining town that can kill up to 10 per cent of people and may spread more easily.

Unlike in previous mpox outbreaks, where lesions were mostly seen on the chest, hands and feet, the new form of mpox causes milder symptoms and lesions on the genitals. That makes it harder to spot, meaning people might also sicken others without knowing they’re infected.

During the global outbreak of mpox in 2022, gay and bisexual men made up a large majority of cases and the virus was mostly spread through close contact, including sex.

Although some similar patterns have been seen in Africa, children under 15 now account for more than 70 per cent of the mpox cases and 85 per cent of deaths in Congo.

Ahead of its emergency meeting, Mr Tedros said officials were dealing with several mpox outbreaks in various countries with “different modes of transmission and different levels of risk.”

“Stopping these outbreaks will require a tailored and comprehensive response,” he said.

The WHO said mpox was recently identified for the first time in four East African countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. All of those outbreaks were linked to the epidemic in Congo.

“This is an outbreak that has been simmering and festering and expanding over the course of a year now,” Gregg Gonsalves, a Yale School of Public Health epidemiologist who has advised the WHO on mpox, was quoted as saying by the Washington Post. “I’m not quite clear why they took so long to do it,” he added referring to the emergency declaration.

“Now that it’s done, we need to move quickly to ensure DRC gets all the requisite tools they need to combat the outbreak.”

The global health agency has released $1.45m from its emergency fund to assist “surveillance, preparedness and response activities” to contain the spread of virus, but would need up to $15m to ramp up the system effectively.

Sheikh Hasina ends silence in exile: ‘I seek justice from the people’

Exiled Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has called for an investigation into the killing of hundreds of students during street protests that toppled her government earlier this month.

In a statement posted on X by her son Sajeeb Wazed, Ms Hasina sought “a thorough investigation to identify and bring to justice those responsible for these heinous killings and acts of sabotage”.

She is herself facing a murder investigation by the interim government over the fatal police shooting of a man during the protests.

“Students, teachers, police officers—including pregnant women—journalists, cultural activists, workers, leaders, activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations, pedestrians and others who were working in various establishments have fallen victim to terrorist aggression and lost their lives. I express my heartfelt sorrow and pray for the peace of their souls” Ms Hasina said in the statement, speaking for the first time since fleeing to India on 5 August.

“I seek justice from the people of this nation.”

Ms Hasina recalled the assassination of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh, and 15 other family members during a military coup on 15 August 1975.

She urged the public to mark 15 August as the National Day of Mourning even though the interim government has cancelled the public holiday.

Nearly 500 people have been killed in violent protests that began in late June as a demand to rollback a contentious jobs quota but soon turned into an agitation against Ms Hasina’s government. The agitation culminated with the ouster of Ms Hasina and, subsequently, the chief justice of the country.

The fall of Ms Hasina’s government collapsed law and order in the country with police and security personnel, who had taken over the streets during the protests, nowhere to be seen.

After Ms Hasina escaped on a helicopter, the protesters stormed and vandalised her residence in Dhaka and set fire to a museum dedicated to the memory of her father.

“Extreme humiliation has been given to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, under whose leadership we got self-dignity as an independent nation,” she bemoaned in the statement. “They have insulted the blood of millions of martyrs.”

“Today it has been destroyed,” she added, referring to Bangladesh.

Ms Hasina broke her silence after police under the new interim government launched a murder investigation against her for the killing of a grocer named Abu Sayeed, who was shot dead on 19 July. The case was brought by Amir Hamza, a businessman, who claimed that Sayeed’s family did not have the capacity to seek justice.

“I am the first ordinary citizen who showed the courage to take this legal step against Sheikh Hasina for her crimes. I will see the case to an end,” Mr Hamza told Reuters.

Mr Hamza petitioned a Dhaka court for an investigation into Sayeed’s killing and named Ms Hasina as a suspect along with former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader and top police officials.

The court, in turn, asked the Mohammadpur police station to start an investigation and report back to it.

Ms Hasina ruled Bangladesh with an iron first for 15 years and faced allegations of violating basic rights, stifling dissent and freedom of speech, and overseeing corruption.

Thai PM Srettha removed from power by court over cabinet appointment

Thailand’s constitutional court on Wednesday removed prime minister Srettha Thavisin for briefly inducting a convicted lawyer in his cabinet.

Mr Srettha appointed Pichit Chuenban in April this year, only to see him quit in May after the decision sparked a furore.

Mr Pichit was jailed for six months on contempt of court charges in 2008 for allegedly seeking to bribe a judge in a case involving Thaksin Shinawatra, former prime minister and founder of Mr Srettha’s Pheu Thai Party.

Mr Thaksin was convicted last year of corruption and defaming the monarchy and sentenced to eight years in prison but was released on parole in February.

Although Mr Pichit had served his setence when he was made minister, the court ruled, his behaviour was dishonest.

And by appointing him to a cabinet job, the court ruled by a majority of five judges to four, Mr Srettha “grossly breached ethical standards”. “The court has found 5-4 that the accused is terminated as prime minister due to his lack of honesty,” it said.

Mr Srettha, the fourth Thai prime minister to be ousted by a court in 16 years, insisted that his appointment of Mr Pichit was above board.

He performed his duty with honesty and did his best, the outgoing prime minister said.

Mr Srettha will be succeeded by deputy premier Phumtham Wechayachai, who will serve as the caretaker until a new leader is ratified by the parliament. There is no time restriction for the legislature to appoint a new prime minister.

The ruling Pheu Thai Party and its past incarnations have seen two of their governments removed through military coups. Its founders, the billionaire Shinawatra family, have been engaged in a protracted tussle for power with the country’s conservative establishment and royalist military.

Among the likely candidates to take over as the next prime minister is Mr Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 37, who now leads the Pheu Thai Party.

She would be the third Shinawatra to take the job if ratified by the parliament. Former justice minister and Pheu Thai Party stalwart Chaikasem Nitisiri is also among the names being talked about.

Modi made more than 100 Islamophobic remarks during election, says HRW

Narendra Modi made Islamophobic remarks in more than 100 campaign speeches during India’s general election in his desperate bid to return to power for a rare third term, a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

Out of a total of 173 campaign speeches, the Indian prime minister allegedly made inflammatory remarks targeting Muslims and other minorities in at least 110, the international human rights group claimed following a survey of Mr Modi’s campaign speeches released on Wednesday.

“The hate speech rhetoric by the Indian leader has real world consequences for people who have had their homes demolished, who have been physically attacked in some cases, and have actually been killed,” Elaine Pearson, Asia director at HRW, told The Independent.

India’s estimated 200 million-strong minority represents the world’s third-largest population of Muslims, roughly one seventh of its 1.42 billion people.

The claims by Mr Modi against Muslims and other minorities were “blatantly false” and his “inflammatory speeches have further normalised abuses against Muslims, Christians, and others” amid a decade of discrimination against these groups under his administration, HRW said.

“Modi regularly raised fears among Hindus through false claims that their faith, their places of worship, their wealth, their land, and the safety of girls and women in their community would be under threat from Muslims if the opposition parties came to power,” it said.

The non-profit specifically referred to a vitriolic speech made by Mr Modi in May 2024 in which he accused the primary opposition party Indian National Congress of “snatching away” and redistributing the country’s wealth among Muslims without citing evidence to back his claim.

“He repeatedly described Muslims as ‘infiltrators’ and claimed Muslims had ‘more children’ than other communities, raising the spectre that Hindus – about 80 per cent of the population – will become a minority in India,” the HRW said.

Mr Modi, in his bid to make a return to power, went on to falsely claim that the Congress party’s manifesto declared they would “take stock of the gold mothers and daughters India have and will distribute that wealth”, it said.

His comments sparked nationwide condemnation from leaders and political commentators, seeking a ban on his campaign activities. He eventually returned to power for a third term but his Hindu nationalist party lost its outright, and is now forced to rely on coalition partners to rule.

In his 14 May speech in the state of Jharkhand the prime minister claimed “the idols of our gods are being destroyed” and that “these infiltrators (Muslims) have threatened the security of our sisters and daughters”.

In a separate speech on 7 May, he again hit out at Congress by stating that the party “intends to give priority to Muslims even in sports. So, Congress will decide who will make the Indian cricket team on the basis of religion”, HRW said.

Hate speech used to stir up voters along religious lines during elections in India is not a new phenomenon, Ms Pearson said, but she argues that a line was crossed this year under Mr Modi’s governance.

“What’s new and different this time is the fact that it is the prime minister himself who has made these inflammatory speeches. It is really dangerous when you have someone who is in such a position of power and authority normalising hate speech as well as making very blatantly false claims as part of an effort to smear Muslims and other minority groups,” she said.

This could be a disturbing trend set by Mr Modi in Asia and beyond, Ms Pearson said.

“We see politicians around the world scapegoating minorities but it does not rise to the level of spreading falsehoods and hate speech from the country’s leader,” she said.

“In India, what is striking is both the hypocrisy and also the real world implications of that hate speech. On one hand, in places like the US, Mr Modi proudly touts India as the mother of democracy where there is no space for discrimination. But at home on the election campaign he made fiery speeches with blatant falsehoods about Muslims,” she said.

The Modi administration and the leader himself have categorically denied making divisive remarks against Muslims and other minorities, while Mr Modi says that his policies are designed to advance the interests of the country as a whole rather than any one religious group. The Independent approached the BJP for comment on the HRW findings but did not receive a response.

Responding to Mr Modi’s previous denials that his remarks were Islamophobic, Ms Pearson said: “It is wrong to reject these allegations. Many of these speeches are publicly available on Mr Modi’s website. To categorically simply deny that there has been any effort to stoke religious tensions is blatantly untrue.

“Those words have consequences. Minorities have been attacked, people killed, homes bulldozed. So we are calling on the Indian government to take steps to protect religious minorities and hold perpetrators to account and end the use of inflammatory hate speech by politicians,” she said.

Weatherman opens up about having panic attack live on air

Australian weather presenter Nate Byrne, who had to halt a broadcast after suffering a panic attack live on air, has described what happened.

Byrne was presenting his weather forecast on ABC News Breakfast at around 6:30am on Tuesday when he suddenly broke off and said he needed to “stop for a second”.

“Some of you may know that I occasionally get affected by panic attacks and actually that is happening right now,” he said, requesting co-host Lisa Millar to continue the broadcast.

The camera panned away from Byrne as he recovered.

He came back after a while and apologised.

Another co-host, Michael Rowland, jokingly responded that he got nervous wondering if he would have to step into his colleague’s shoes and present the weather. He later shared a video of the incident, telling the audience that Byrne was alright.

“When I got to the wall, I realised I was just ever so slightly out of breath. And I know that specific position in front of the wall is a trigger for me for panic attacks. And it started, it triggered one,” Byrne told the BBC.

“It’s a physiological response. My body starts tingling, I start sweating. Just everything in my body is screaming, ‘Run, go, get out.’

“I knew I needed to throw back to my hosts and I could see out of the corner of my eye they were doing a move in the studio. There wasn’t a clean shot. I sort of had to fill while having a panic attack.

“And the only thing I could think to fill with was, ‘Hey, I’m having a panic attack.’”

Millar took over from Byrne and brought up an article he had written in 2022 about his first panic attack and how it changed his views on mental health.

“As I stood there under the studio lights, talking to people having their morning coffee and wiping sleep from their eyes, my heart was racing, I was gasping for breath and sweat was pouring out of every pore as my brain screamed ‘RUN!’” he had written.

Millar said it was “fantastic that he has been so open and transparent about it”.

The response to his piece, Byrne said, was entirely positive.

“A lot of people have come after I first spoke about it publicly and said to me that they didn’t know that what they were having was a panic attack. They did not know that other people had panic attacks. It happens and there are things we can do,” he said.

“The thing is, if you identify you’re having a panic attack or that you’ve got an anxiety problem, it’s best to go see a doctor. Talking to someone is probably the best thing you can do.”

Social media users responded with appreciation for the way everyone in the studio handled the incident.

“Well done to Nate and the team for navigating that so well. We are all human and many of us have been in similar situations,” one commenter said on Instagram.

“This is awesome. Panic attacks are not. Well done Nate and the whole team,” musician Paul Dempsey wrote.

Pakistan arrests former spy chief seen as ally of jailed PM Imran Khan

Pakistan has arrested its former spy chief, retired Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, and started court martial proceedings against him.

The detention of a high-ranking officer is unusual in a country where the military has ruled for over 30 years and continues to hold considerable sway.

Mr Hameed’s arrest is widely seen as part of a crackdown on the allies of former prime minister Imran Khan, who was ousted in 2022 and jailed on corruption charges.

Mr Khan, who had reportedly handpicked Mr Hameed to head the ISI spy agency, has accused the military of orchestrating his removal at the behest of the US.

The former spy chief’s arrest was ordered by the Supreme Court, the military claimed in a statement, adding that he was also accused of violating the Pakistan Army Act. It did not specify the charges though or disclose when he was arrested.

He was reportedly implicated in a housing scheme launched by Mr Khan’s government.

“The process of field general court martial has been initiated and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has been taken into military custody,” the statement read.

Mr Hameed, who led the ISI from 2019 to 2021, came to global attention when he was filmed sipping tea in a Kabul hotel shortly after the Taliban had taken back Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of US and other occupying Western forces.

The ISI had long been accused by Washington of backing the Taliban.

The head of the ISI is generally considered to be the second most powerful military officer in Pakistan after the army chief.

Additional reporting by agencies.

Japan’s PM Kishida quits to save his party after years of scandal

Fumio Kishida has announced he will step down as Japan’s prime minister after three years in office marred by political scandals, saying his exit is “what is best for the public”.

The 67-year-old’s surprise departure paves the way for a new leader of his governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which currently controls both houses of parliament but has seen support dwindle.

“I will devote myself to supporting the new leader … as a foot soldier,” he said, urging party unity to rebuild public trust. “We need to clearly show an LDP reborn. In order to show a changing LDP, the most obvious first step is for me to bow out.”

Slumping support for Mr Kishida dipped his approval rating to below 20 per cent. The prospect of electoral defeat had seen growing calls within the party for an alternative fresh face ahead of the next general election, due by the third quarter of 2025.

“The new leader needs to be a fresh face, whether that means young or not associated with Kishida, and reform-minded,” said Rintaro Nishimura, an associate at Washington-based strategic advisory firm The Asia Group.

Mr Kishida was under scrutiny by party members for the handling of a scandal involving hidden slush funds in which more than 80 LDP lawmakers, mostly belonging to a major party faction previously led by assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe, are accused of being involved.

He removed a number of cabinet ministers and others from party executive posts, dissolved party factions and tightened political funding laws – but despite his efforts, public support for his government ebbed away and the party suffered losses in local elections earlier this year. Major losses in Tokyo metropolitan assembly elections in July added to the malaise.

Mr Kishida’s decision will trigger a contest within the party to replace him as party boss, and by extension as the leader of Japan.

The successor the LDP chooses is set to face challenges of increases in living costs, escalating geopolitical tensions, and the potential return of Donald Trump as US president next year.

Former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba has so far expressed his intention to run as the LDP president. He remains a popular face among the public after his stint as number two within the ruling party. Polls published by local media over the past several weeks showed Mr Ishiba, 67, was the most popular candidate.

Others who have expressed interest included digital transformation minister Kono Taro, foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa, and Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi.

“He’s been a dead man walking for quite some time,” said Michael Cucek, a professor specialising in Japanese politics at Temple University in Tokyo. “There was no way to add up the numbers so that he would get re-elected,” he added.

Three of the rumoured candidates to replace Mr Kishida – something that raises hopes for a breakthrough in Japan’s male-dominated politics.

Experts say that the LDP’s need to change its image could push it to choose a female prime minister. Only three women have run for the party’s leadership in the past, two of whom ran against Mr Kishida in 2021.

Only 10.3 per cent of the members of the lower house of Japan’s parliament are women, putting Japan 163rd for female representation among 190 countries examined in a report by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union in April.

The Bank of Japan unexpectedly raised interest rates to around 0.25 per cent in July, as inflation took hold, leading to stock market instability and sending the yen sharply lower.

Mr Kishida’s exit could mean tighter fiscal and monetary conditions depending on the candidate, according to Shoki Omori, chief Japan desk strategist, at Mizuho Securities, Tokyo.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report

Japanese has been put on a megaquake warning. People are confused

Japan, one of the most earthquake-prone nations on earth, issued its first-ever “megaquake advisory” last week after a powerful quake struck off the southeastern coast of the southern main island of Kyushu.

The magnitude 7.1 quake caused no deaths or severe damage but the advisory has led to widespread confusion and a lingering sense of worry — in a country well accustomed to regular quakes — about when the next big one will hit.

As a result of the “megaquake advisory,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida canceled his planned Aug. 9-12 trip to Central Asia and announced he would lead the government response and ensure preventive measures and communication with the public.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency instructed 707 municipalities seen as at risk from a Nankai Trough quake to review their response measures and evacuation plans.

Experts and officials have urged people to stay calm and carry on their daily social and economic activities while also securing emergency food and water and discussing evacuation plans with family members.

In a reassuring note on Monday, JMA experts said they have so far found no abnormal seismic or tectonic activity that would indicate a megaquake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the advisory after concluding that the magnitude 7.1 quake that struck on Aug. 8 on the western edge of the Nankai Trough increased the likelihood of another big one.

There is a 70-80% chance of a magnitude 8 or 9 quake associated with the Nankai Trough within the next 30 years, and the probability is now “higher than normal” after the latest quake, the JMA says.

But that is not a prediction that a megaquake will happen at any specific time or location, says University of Tokyo seismologist Naoshi Hirata, who heads the JMA’s experts panel. He urged people to remain cautious and prepared.

The Nankai Trough is an undersea trench that runs from Hyuganada, in the waters just off the southeastern coast of Kyushu, to Suruga Bay in central Japan. It spans about 800 kilometers (500 miles) along the Pacific coast.

The Philippine Sea Plate there slowly pulls down on the Eurasian Plate and causes it to occasionally snap back, an action that could lead to a megaquake and tsunami, JMA says.

The last Nankai Trough quake off Shikoku in 1946 recorded a preliminary magnitude of 8.0 and killed more than 1,300 people.

In 2013, a government disaster prevention team said a magnitude 9.1 Nankai Trough quake could generate a tsunami exceeding 10 meters (33 feet) within minutes, killing as many as 323,000 people, destroying more than 2 million buildings and causing economic damage of more than 220 trillion yen ($1.5 trillion) to large swaths of Japan’s Pacific coast.

The “megaquake advisory,” which is filled with scientific jargon, has worried and baffled people across the country. Some towns closed beaches and canceled annual events, which has led to challenges for travelers during Japan’s Obon holiday week, a time for festivals and fireworks across the nation.

Many people have put off planned trips and rushed to stock up on rice, dried noodles, canned food, bottled water, portable toilets and other emergency goods, leaving shelves empty at many supermarkets in western Japan and Tokyo, even though the capital is outside the at-risk area.

The Summit supermarket chain said microwavable rice is in short supply and the store is limiting purchases to one pack per customer.

Yoshiko Kudo and her husband Shinya said they had trouble understanding what exactly the advisory meant, how worried they should be and what they should do.

“We are trying not to go overboard. Too much worry is not good,” Yoshiko Kudo said.

“We don’t know how to be prepared and to still live normally like the experts tell us,” said Shinya Kudo, a caregiver in his 60s.

Yoneko Oshima, walking by a major train station in Tokyo, said: “It’s scary … They say there’s a (70-80%) chance in the next 30 years, but it could be tomorrow.” Her latest purchase is a portable toilet. She says water is indispensable for her diabetic husband, who needs to take medicine after every meal.

“I plan to take this opportunity to make a list and make sure we have everything at hand,” Oshima said. She hasn’t changed her holiday plans this week, but her daughter canceled a planned trip to Mount Fuji.

In Matsuyama city on the island of Shikoku, which has many hot springs, hotels and resorts reviewed their evacuation procedures and emergency equipment and launched a radio communication system for emergency use. They have received hundreds of cancellations since the advisory was issued, said Hideki Ochi, director of the Dogo Onsen Ryokan Association.

Rail companies serving the region said their trains are operating at slightly reduced speeds as a precaution.

A crisis management task force in the coastal town of Kuroshio in Kochi prefecture, where a tsunami as high as 34 meters (111 feet) was predicted in the government risk analysis, initially set up 30 shelters across town. But only two are still open following Monday’s JMA statement that there has been no indication of an impending megaquake.

Higashi Osaka urged residents on the town website not to engage in “unnecessary and non-urgent” travel in case of a major quake.

The popular seaside town of Shirahama in Wakayama prefecture said its four outdoor hot springs, parks and other facilities would be closed for a week. Saturday’s annual fireworks festival was also canceled.