Source: Agence France Presse
Security & Justice
Captured Hezbollah Operative May Have Been Israeli Double Agent, Report Suggests
The alleged senior Hezbollah operative abducted by Israeli special forces last week in Batroun may have been operating as a double agent, according to a report by The Telegraph.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Lebanon’s Probe into Israeli Raid Expected to Take Days as Security Officials Weigh Theories
Lebanese authorities are ramping up investigations into an Israeli commando raid last week in the northern coastal city of Batroun, during which Imad Amhaz, a Hezbollah official, was snatched.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Friday 16 August 2024 15:44:54
EU Health Agency: Europe Must Prepare for More Mpox Cases
The European Union health agency on Friday urged its member states to get ready for more cases of a deadly strain of mpox, a day after Sweden announced the first case outside Africa.
In a risk assessment, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the overall risk for the general population in the EU and European Economic Area (EAA) — 30 countries altogether — remained “low.”
However, it “recommends that public health authorities in the EU/EEA maintain high levels of preparedness planning and awareness-raising activities to enable rapid detection and response.”
The Stockholm-based health body said more imported cases to Europe were “highly likely.”
“Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must be prepared for more imported clade I cases,” ECDC director Pamela Rendi-Wagner said in a statement.
The World Health Organization (WHO) this week declared the rapid spread of the new, more dangerous mpox strain, dubbed Clade 1b, a public health emergency of international concern — the highest alarm the UN agency can sound.
The virus has swept through the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 548 people so far this year, the country’s government said.
Sweden and Pakistan have this week reported the first cases of the virus outside of Africa, with the WHO warning further imported cases of the new strain in Europe were likely.
In an updated risk assessment, the ECDC said that the “overall risk for the EU/EEA general population is currently assessed as low, based on a very low likelihood and a low impact.”
However, it added in the statement that the likelihood of infection for people from Europe “traveling to affected areas who have close contact with affected communities is high.”
“Additionally, there is a moderate risk for close contacts of possible or confirmed imported cases” to Europe.
The infectious disease is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by animals but can also spread human-to-human through close physical contact.
It causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.
