Headlines from the last seven days

1 HEALTH

WHO declares global monkeypox emergency

The worldwide outbreak of monkeypox has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization – the agency’s strongest warning.

It is the seventh time such a declaration has been made since 2009, the most recent being for Covid-19, and it comes after a meeting of a committee of experts last week.

“In short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, said.

While the risk of monkeypox was “moderate” globally, it was “high” in Europe and there was “a clear risk of further international spread”.

According to WHO data, there have been more than 16,000 monkeypox cases in 75 countries and territories and there have been five deaths.

The European region has the highest number of total cases, approaching 12,000, and the biggest increase in seven days.

2 CANADA

Pope asks for forgiveness for abuse at church schools

Pope Francis has expressed “my sorrow” for the legacy of abuse at Canada’s residential schools, asking survivors of the church-run system for forgiveness as he tours the country on a “pilgrimage of penance”.

The pontiff’s widely anticipated apology came during a Monday morning visit to the community of Maskwacis, Alberta.

“I am sorry. I ask for forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the church and religious communities co-operated in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation,” Francis said, telling nearly 2,000 survivors