WHO declares global emergency over Zika virus spread ADVERTISING WHO declares global emergency over Zika virus spread GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the explosive spread of the Zika virus, which has been linked
WHO declares global emergency over Zika virus spread
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the explosive spread of the Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects in the Americas, calling it an “extraordinary event” that poses a public health threat to other parts of the world.
The U.N. agency took the rare step despite a lack of definitive evidence proving the mosquito-borne virus is causing a surge in babies born with brain defects and abnormally small heads in Brazil and following a 2013-14 outbreak in French Polynesia.
Monday’s emergency meeting of independent experts was called in response to the spike in babies born with microcephaly in Brazil since the virus was first found there last year. Officials in French Polynesia also documented a connection between Zika and neurological complications when the virus was spreading there two years ago, at the same time as dengue fever.
“After a review of the evidence, the committee advised that the clusters of microcephaly and other neurological complications constitute an extraordinary event and public health threat to other parts of the world,” WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said.
WHO, which was widely criticized for its sluggish response to the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa, has been eager to show its responsiveness this time. Despite dire warnings that Ebola was out of control in mid-2014, WHO didn’t declare an emergency until months later, after nearly 1,000 people had died.
10,000 young migrants unaccounted for, EU police agency says
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Authorities dealing with Europe’s migrant crisis have lost track of about 10,000 unaccompanied children amid fears that organized crime gangs are beginning to exploit the vulnerable youngsters, a senior official at the European Union’s police agency said Monday.
Europol Chief of Staff Brian Donald said that the figure “would be a conservative estimate across all the countries that are dealing with this migrant crisis” over the past 12-18 months.
The revelation that so many youngsters are unaccounted for is the latest worrying development in the migrant crisis and underscores the risks faced by people fleeing conflict, poverty and persecution in the Middle East, Africa and Asia even once they have reached the apparent safety of Europe.
Donald said the estimate of 10,000 missing was based on reports by law enforcement authorities, governments and non-governmental organizations.
“They’re lost in the system,” he said of the minors. “I think our concern is that we know that there are people out there who will exploit minors. We know there are people who will take them and use them for their own purposes.”
Police say Chicago homicides climbed dramatically in January
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago saw a dramatic spike in the number of homicides and shootings in January — the bloodiest start to a year in at least 16 years and a blow to a police force struggling to regain public trust following the release of a video of a white officer fatally shooting a black teen.
In a news release Monday, Chicago police reported that 51 homicides were committed in the city last month, compared with 29 in January 2015. The number of shooting incidents more than doubled, from 119 last January to 242 this January. The number of shooting victims increased from 136 to 292.
“We can’t put our finger on” specific reasons for the increase, the city’s interim police superintendent, John Escalante said. But he noted the increase coincides with an equally dramatic decrease in the number of street stops made in January. He said a policy change that went into effect in this year requires officers to fill out lengthier forms than the brief “contact cards” they used through 2015 and that officers are going through training now to help them deal with the new forms.
Escalante also said officers have expressed concerns “about being the next viral video. Even when they’re doing something right, they’re concerned that their actions will be questioned and they will be the one that goes viral.”
Chicago has become a national symbol of gun violence since at least 2012, when the number of homicides climbed past the 500 mark, far higher than any other U.S. city. With police initiating a number of crime-fighting measures and spending millions of dollars on overtime, the city saw the total fall closer to 400 in each of the next two years, and 2014 ended with the fewest homicides in decades. But last year the number of homicides and shooting incidents rose again.
