COPENHAGEN (AFP/Xinhua) – The World Health Organization’s European office said Saturday that more monkeypox-related deaths can be expected, following reports of the first fatalities outside Africa, while stressing that severe complications were still rare. “With the continued spread of monkeypox in Europe, we will expect to see more deaths,” Catherine Smallwood, Senior Emergency Officer at WHO Europe, said in a statement. Smallwood emphasized that the goal needs to be “interrupting transmission quickly in Europe and stopping this outbreak.” However, Smallwood stressed that in most cases the disease heals itself without the need for treatment. “The notification of deaths due to monkeypox does not change our assessment of the outbreak in Europe. We know that although self-limiting in most cases, monkeypox can cause severe complications,” Smallwood noted. Meanwhile, the Spanish Ministry of Health on Saturday confirmed the country’s second death from the Monkeypox virus. The news comes less than 24 hours after the first death from the disease was reported by the ministry on Friday evening.

It’s also the second death reported in Europe.

 

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SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday outlined a draft referendum question in a bid to change the constitution to set up a representative Indigenous body in parliament. Australia’s constitution currently does not recognize Indigenous peoples, and the move to enshrine a so-called “voice” -- a consultative body to supply advice to the government on decisions that would impact the marginalized group -- in the document would require a nationwide referendum. Speaking at an Indigenous festival in Arnhem Land -- home to a majority Indigenous population -- centre-left leader Albanese proposed a draft referendum question to the Australian public: “Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice?” Albanese -- elected in May -- had promised a referendum vote to be held before the end of his term in 2025. It remains unclear how the referendum will take shape but proposing the draft question to Aboriginal Australian leaders and the public would be a first step.

 

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LONDON (AP) – UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss cemented her place as front-runner in the race to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, winning endorsement Saturday from an influential former rival for the top job. Tom Tugendhat, who was eliminated from the contest in earlier rounds of voting by Conservative lawmakers, said Truss had the “resolution, determination, and passion” to be prime minister. The endorsement is a blow to ex-Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, the other finalist in the race for the next Conservative leader. The winner will be decided by votes from about 180,000 party members across the country.

Polls give Truss an edge with Tory members, though Sunak is more popular with the general public, who don’t have a say in the race. The winner will be announced Sept. 5 and will automatically become prime minister, replacing Johnson, who stepped down as Conservative leader this month after three years in office following months of ethics scandals. Tugendhat, a prominent figure from the party’s centrist “One Nation” group, wrote in the Times of London newspaper that Truss had “the foreign-affairs experience to build alliances and keep our country safe.” 

 

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TUNIS (Middle East Eye) – Tunisia has summoned U.S. charge d’affaires Natasha Franceschi in protest at Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s rare criticism of the North African country’s draft constitutional referendum. After the referendum vote that was plagued with a low turnout and opposition groups reporting difficulties in observing the process, Blinken said the U.S. “shared concerns” over the vote and over the new constitution.  In a statement, Tunisia’s ministry of foreign affairs said Blinken’s remarks contradicted the principles of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi slammed the “unacceptable interference in internal national affairs” and expressed “amazement” at the U.S. criticism.  A few hours earlier, Jerandi had met with President Saied, who expressed his “rejection of any form of interference in the internal affairs of the country”. The statement from the U.S.’s top diplomat was one of the strongest yet in opposition to Saied’s actions since the Tunisian leader’s July 2021 power grab. Blinken, however, was quick to add that “the U.S.-Tunisia partnership is strongest when there is a shared commitment to democracy and human rights”. Experts on U.S.-Tunisia policy were quoted by Middle East Eye as saying that Washington’s reaction to Saied’s moves has largely been reactive rather than planned or strategic.

 

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PYONGYANG (Al Jazeera) – North Korea has reported no new “fever” cases for the first time since mid-May when it abruptly announced its first domestic outbreak of COVID-19, and imposed tough measures to curb the spread of the virus. North Korea’s state emergency anti-epidemic center said it had found zero fever patients in the most recent 24-hour period, state media reported on Saturday. It said the total caseload was about 4.8 million and that about 99.99 percent of patients had fully recovered. Some 74 people have died from the virus, according to official figures, which would make the country’s mortality rate – at 0.0016 percent – the lowest in the world.

 

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PARIS (Anadolu) – Video of Benin’s Foreign Minister using his hand to dust off his shoulder after being touched by French President Emmanuel Macron went viral on social media Saturday. In the video, Macron, paying an official visit to Benin on July 27 as part of an African tour, is seen calling Aurelien Agbenonci to his side as he speaks with his Patrice Talon, Benin’s president. Footage shows Macron approaching Agbenonci, touching his shoulder, and then saying something to him. Agbenonci then dusts off the spot where Macron touched him. Macron visited Cameroon, Benin, and Guinea-Bissau on July 25-28 as part of his Africa tour. Macron’s visit was aimed at reviving France’s relations with the continent, the Elysee Palace said in a statement. During Macron’s visit, Africans raised the issue of France’s colonial atrocities on the continent and urged France to accept responsibility.