WORLD NEWS FLASH
WORLD
On July 23, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the spread of the virus to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the organization’s highest level of alert.
WHO assessed the risk posed to public health by Monkeypox in the European region as high, but at the global level as moderate.
With “other regions not at the moment as severely affected,” declaring a PHEIC was necessary “to ensure the outbreak was stopped as soon as possible.”
This year, there have been more than 16,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox in more than 75 countries. Dr. Rosamund Lewis, WHO Technical Lead on Monkeypox, said the real number was probably higher.
She pointed out that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, several thousand cases were suspected, but testing facilities are limited. “The global dashboard did not include suspected cases,” she said.
Some 81 children under the age of 17 were reported as having been infected globally, she added, with the majority of cases being among young men, with the median age being 37.
First identified in monkeys, the virus is transmitted chiefly through close contact with an infected person.
Until this year, the virus which causes Monkeypox has rarely spread outside Africa where it is endemic. But reports of a handful of cases in Britain in early May signaled that the outbreak had moved into Europe.
Dr. Lewis pointed out that stigma and discrimination must be avoided, as that would harm the response to the disease.
“At the moment the outbreak is still concentrated in groups of men who have sex with men in some countries, but that is not the case everywhere,” she said. “It is really important to appreciate also that stigma and discrimination can be very damaging and as dangerous as any virus itself,” she said.
Monkeypox could cause a range of signs and symptoms, including painful sores. Some people developed serious symptoms that need care in a health facility. Those at higher risk for severe disease or complications include pregnant women, children, and immunocompromised persons.
Dr. Lewis said WHO was working with Member States and the European Union on releasing vaccines, and with partners to determine a global coordination mechanism. She emphasized that mass vaccination was not required, but the WHO had recommended post-exposure vaccination.
Vaccine sharing should be done according to public health needs, country by country and location by location. Not all regions had the same epidemiology, she explained.
Dr. Lewis explained that some 16.4 million vaccines were currently available in bulk but needed to be finished. The countries currently producing vaccines are Denmark, Japan, and the United States.
She reminded that the current recommendation for persons with Monkeypox was to isolate and not travel until they recovered; contact cases should be checking their temperature and monitoring possible other symptoms for the period of 9 to 21 days.
“When someone is vaccinated it takes several weeks for the immune response to be generated by the body,” she said.
ASIA
VOLCANO ERUPTS IN JAPAN
In the evening hours of July 24, Japan was rocked by not an earthquake, but another natural phenomenon.
Scores of citizens were evacuated after the Sakurajima volcano blew its top, billowing smoke and lava. Ejected rocks littered the landscape, and ash began falling on cars and other surfaces.
Japan’s meteorological agency warned of the potential for falling more volcanic rocks, as well as possible flow of lava, ash, and searing gas within the immediate area. In addition to the rocks, mudslides, and pyroclastic flow. Residents have been advised to close curtains and stay away from windows.
On the island of Kyushu, Sakurajima has erupted a few times over the years, with this being the latest episode. The volcano is roughly 600 miles from Tokyo.
UNITED STATES
ANOTHER COP SENTENCED IN FLOYD CASE
Not long after Derek Chauvin was held accountable, one of his former coworkers has now felt the weight of his actions – or lack thereof.
The Justice Department has announced that former Minneapolis Police Officer Thomas Lane, 39, was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release for depriving George Floyd Jr., of his constitutional rights.
On Feb. 24, 2022, following a trial that lasted nearly five weeks, a federal jury in St. Paul, Minnesota, found Lane guilty of depriving Floyd of his constitutional right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to serious medical needs when Lane saw Floyd restrained in police custody in clear need of medical care and willfully failed to aid him.
The jury found that Lane’s failure to act resulted in bodily injury to and the death of Floyd. This offense is a violation of the federal criminal civil rights statute that prohibits willful violations of civil rights by a person, such as a police officer, acting in an official capacity.
The same jury also found former Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng guilty of depriving Floyd of his constitutional right to be free from an officer’s unreasonable force when Thao and Kueng each willfully failed to intervene to stop former MPD Officer Derek Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, resulting in bodily injury to and the death of Floyd.
Thao and Kueng were also found to have deprived Floyd of his constitutional right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to Floyd’s serious medical needs, resulting in bodily injury to and the death of Floyd. A sentencing hearing for Thao and Kueng has not yet been scheduled.
Former Officer Derek Chauvin previously pleaded guilty to depriving Floyd and a then-14-year-old child of their constitutional rights in violation of the same federal statute. On July 7, 2022, Chauvin was sentenced to 252 months in prison for those crimes.
“The tragic death of George Floyd makes clear the fatal consequences that can result from a police officer’s failure to intervene to protect people in their custody,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Had this defendant and other officers on the scene with Derek Chauvin taken simple steps, George Floyd would be alive today. This sentence should send a message that protecting people in custody is the affirmative duty and obligation of every law enforcement officer, regardless of one’s rank or seniority.”
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It was prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Samantha Trepel and Trial Attorney Tara Allison of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samantha Bates, LeeAnn Bell, Evan Gilead, Manda Sertich and Allen Slaughter for the District of Minnesota.
EUROPE
UK SANCTIONS RUSSIAN OFFICIALS
On July 26, the UK government sanctioned Vitaly Khotsenko and Vladislav Kuznetsov, the Russian-imposed Prime Minister and First Deputy Chairman of the so-called ‘Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics’, for undermining Ukrainian territorial integrity.
Khotsenko and Kuznetsov have been sent to implement Russia’s policies across the invaded region, supporting Putin’s plans to illegally annex more of Ukraine and use sham referendums to falsely legitimize their occupation.
Twenty nine regional governors from across Russia have also been sanctioned today. The governors have been directed by the Kremlin to transfer funds to the so-called ‘Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics’, facilitating the Russian occupation in attempting to wrest territory from Ukraine.
The Russian Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuychenko and Deputy Minister of Justice Oleg Sviridenko are also being sanctioned today. The pair are suppressing their own people by targeting those speaking out against the war. They are expanding their power to repress Russian citizens’ freedom of speech by signing a new law that expands the criteria for “foreign agents” to include anyone who the authorities declare to be “under foreign influence.” Those found guilty will be branded as criminals and will be barred from receiving state financing, teaching at state universities, working with minors, or providing expertise on environmental issues.
Also sanctioned today are Sarvar and Sanjar Ismailov, nephews of major Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov who has close ties to the Kremlin. Both Sarvar and Sanjar have significant interests in the UK, it is believed that they own homes in Highgate and Hampstead Heath.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said, “We will not keep quiet and watch Kremlin-appointed state actors suppress the people of Ukraine or the freedoms of their own people. We will continue to impose harsh sanctions on those who are trying to legitimize Putin’s illegal invasion until Ukraine prevails.”
In coordination with the EU, the UK is also targeting 2 groups of Syrian individuals. One group is responsible for recruiting Syrians to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine, while the other is supporting the repressive Syrian regime – perpetuating and benefitting from Putin’s agenda of international turmoil.
These sanctions build on the UK’s hard-hitting sanctions package on Russia which includes designations on more than 1,100 individuals and more than 100 entities. Additional powers have also recently come into force, including the prohibition of new UK investment into Russia, the banning of Russian gold from the UK’s world-leading bullion market, and further expanding of the criteria for who can be sanctioned.
