Monkeypox: WHO declares global health emergency due to 'extraordinary' outbreak
The WHO has declared an international health emergency due to the monkeypox outbreak, which has affected about 17,000 people in 74 countries. The head of the World Health Organization described the increase in monkeypox infections as "extraordinary".
"We have an outbreak that has spread rapidly around the world through new modes of transmission about which we understand very little and that meets the criteria in international health regulations," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press conference.
Declaring a "public health emergency of international concern", he said the risk of monkeypox was relatively high around the world, including Europe and North America.
Large fires engulf northern, southern and eastern Greece
Huge fires are raging across the north, south and east of Greece as a scorching heat wave sweeps through the country. Hundreds of residents and tourists have been evacuated from the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos after wildfires destroyed homes and threatened villages. Greece is currently facing a heat wave with temperatures reaching 42 degrees Celsius in some regions. The extreme weather is expected to last 10 days, raising fears of more fires.
Chinese court rejects single woman's request to freeze eggs
A Chinese court has rejected a rare legal challenge brought by an unmarried woman from Beijing seeking the right to freeze her eggs. Xu, who is unmarried, had wanted to save her eggs so that she would have a chance to have children at a later date.
"I think this lost lawsuit is not an attack on the reproductive rights of single women, it's probably a temporary setback," she said in a brief statement.
In China, national law does not directly prohibit unmarried people from services such as fertility treatments. However, in practice, hospitals and other institutions enforce the regulations in a way that requires people to show a marriage license. Unmarried women who choose to have children have struggled to receive public benefits such as maternity leave.
YouTube campaign for abortion
YouTube announced that it will block videos that contain false claims about abortion or any content deemed unsafe. The platform said it will delete videos promoting unsafe home abortions, as well as misinformation about the safety of the procedure. The move comes nearly a month after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, the case that protected abortion rights for nearly 50 years.
