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The health agency’s confirmation comes amid a monkeypox outbreak in the DRC and a concerning lack of vaccines in Africa.

The World Health Organization said it has confirmed sexual transmission of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the first time as the country’s experiences its biggest-ever outbreak, a worrying development that African scientists warn could make it more difficult to stop the disease.

In a statement issued late Thursday, the United Nations health agency said a resident of Belgium travelled to Congo in March and tested positive for monkeypox, shortly afterwards. WHO said the individual “identified himself as a man who has sexual relations with other men” and that he had gone to several underground clubs for gay and bisexual men.

Among his sexual contacts, five later tested positive for monkeypox, WHO said.

“This is the first definitive proof of sexual transmission of monkeypox in Africa,” Oyewale Tomori, a Nigerian virologist who sits on several WHO advisory groups, said. “The idea that this kind of transmission could not be happening here has now been debunked.”

Monkeypox, sometimes called mpox, has been endemic in parts of Central and West Africa for decades, where it mostly jumped into humans from infected rodents and caused limited outbreaks. Last year, epidemics triggered mainly by sex among gay and bisexual men in Europe hit more than 100 countries. WHO declared the outbreak as a global emergency and it has caused about 91,000 cases to date.

The agency noted there were dozens of “discrete” clubs in Congo where men have sex with other men, including members who travel to other parts of Africa and Europe. The agency described the recent monkeypox outbreak as “unusual” and said it highlighted the risk the disease could spread widely among sexual networks.

WHO added that the monkeypox outbreak this year in Congo, which has infected more than 12,500 people and killed about 580, also marked the first time the disease has been identified in the capital of Kinshasa and in the conflict-ridden province of South Kivu. Those figures are roughly double the monkeypox toll in 2020, making it Congo’s biggest-ever outbreak, WHO said.

Virologist Tomori said that even those figures were likely an underestimate and had implications for the rest of Africa, given the continent’s often patchy disease surveillance.

“What’s happening in Congo is probably happening in other parts of Africa,” he said. “Sexual transmission of monkeypox is likely established here, but [gay] communities are hiding it because of the draconian [anti-LGBTQ+] laws in several countries,” he added.

He warned that driving people at risk for the virus underground would make the disease harder to curb.

The monkeypox virus causes fever, chills, rash, and lesions on the face or genitals. Most people recover within several weeks without requiring hospitalisation.

WHO said the risk of monkeypox spreading to other countries in Africa and globally “appears to be significant,” adding that there could be “potentially more severe consequences” than the worldwide epidemic last year.

Tomori lamented that while the mpox outbreaks in Europe and North America prompted mass immunisation campaigns among affected populations, no such plans were being proposed for Africa.

“Despite the thousands of cases in Congo, no vaccines have arrived,” he noted. “We have been saying for years in Africa that monkeypox is a problem,” he said. “Now that sexual transmission has been confirmed here, this should be a signal to everyone to take it much more seriously.”

Nearly two months after the October 7 attack by Hamas, Israel’s response has killed more than 14,500 Palestinians.

While many see the current conflict as a reaction to the attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel, others have pointed out that this view ignores crucial historical context and that the conflict has been ongoing for generations.

Following the 1917 Balfour Declaration which led to an influx of Jewish immigrants, the creation of Israel in 1948 saw an enormous displacement of Palestinians, in addition to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands who remain refugees to this day.

On UpFront, Mustafa Barghouti, the co-founder of the Palestinian National Initiative, and author Ghada Karmi, join Marc Lamont Hill to look back at the history of Palestine and contextualise the current war.

Unrest started after a knife attack on a woman and three children that seriously wounded a five-year-old girl.

Ireland’s prime minister has pledged to clamp down after 34 people were arrested following a rampage through Dublin overnight by a far-right mob.

Labelling the violence a “shame on Ireland”, Leo Varadkar said on Friday that his government would use the “full resources of the law” to punish the perpetrators and tighten hate and incitement legislation. Police have blamed the trouble on “a lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology”.

The clashes broke out in central Dublin, with vehicles torched and riot police attacked, after a five-year-old girl was seriously injured in a knife attack at a school on Thursday. A woman and two other young children were hospitalised in the same attack.

Authorities have not commented on the nationality of a man, also in hospital, who was detained in connection with the stabbings.

However, social media posts regarding the suspect’s ethnic background soon emerged, and a small group of anti-immigrant protesters arrived at the scene and clashed with police.

Later, at least 100 people took to the streets in the centre of the Irish capital, some armed with metal bars and covering their faces.

Police said more than 400 officers, including many in riot gear, were deployed to contain the unrest, which they said was “caused by a small group of thugs”.

A police cordon was also set up around the Irish parliament building, Leinster House, and officers from the Mounted Support Unit were in nearby Grafton Street.

Several police vehicles and a tram were damaged during the disorder, while a bus and car were set on fire on the city’s O’Connell Bridge.

Shop windows were smashed and stores looted as opportunists were reported to have joined the fray.

All public transport in the city – trams and buses – was suspended and many firms have urged their staff to work from home on Friday.

‘Filled with hate’

Police said on Friday that 34 people had been arrested, and added that they expect to make many further arrests soon.

They have blamed far-right agitators for starting the violence.

“We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence,” said Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, Ireland’s top police officer. “What we saw last night was an extraordinary outbreak of violence. These are scenes that we have not seen in decades.”

He added that police have not ruled out a potential “terrorist” link.

“All lines of inquiry are open to determine the motive for this attack,” he said.

Varadkar said on Friday that the riot was motivated by “hate”.

“Those involved brought shame on Dublin, brought shame on Ireland and brought shame on their families and themselves,” the prime minister told reporters.

“They did not do what they did because they wanted to protect Irish people. They did not do it out of any sense of patriotism, however warped,” he continued. “They did so because they’re filled with hate. They love violence. They love chaos and they love causing pain to others.

“As a country, we need to reclaim Ireland. We need to take it away from the cowards who hide behind masks and tried to terrify us with their violence,” he continued.

Varadkar went on to pledge that the government would use the “full resources of the law, the full machinery of the state to punish those involved in yesterday’s grotesque events”.

He also outlined plans to pass new laws in the coming weeks to enable police “to make better use” of CCTV evidence they collected during the unrest.

Ireland would “modernise” its laws regarding hate and incitement, he added.

Ireland’s parliament hosts no far-right parties or politicians, but anti-immigrant protests have grown in the last year. The government is reviewing security around parliament after a recent protest trapped MPs inside.

A 68-year-old jogger has been charged with killing a homeless man in California who was blocking his path while sleeping.

Craig Sumner Elliott was jogging with two dogs and a pushcart on the afternoon of 28 September when he confronted the man who was asleep on a pavement, according to Californian officials who charged him earlier this week.

Elliott nudged Antonio Garcia Avalos, 40, to wake him up, causing the rough sleeper to shout at the jogger.

Police say Elliot started recording Mr Avalos before pulling a handgun from his pushcart.

They add that Elliot’s footage showed Mr Avalos throwing a shoe at Elliot seconds before he shot the victim three times.

Garden Grove police responded to the incident about one mile west of Disneyland, according to a statement from the department that day.

The victim was rushed to a hospital, where he died, it said.

Elliott, who had a permit to carry the weapon, was arrested on 17 November and has since been charged with voluntary manslaughter and enhancement of personal use of a firearm.

He faces a maximum sentence of 21 years in state prison if convicted on all charges, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

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“This is a tragic set of circumstances that unfolded in the worst possible way over a minor inconvenience of a blocked sidewalk, and a man is dead as a result,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.

“This case is a stark reminder that taking the law into your own hands is never the answer and that there are consequences for your actions.”

Elliot has been released on bail and is scheduled to appear in court on 15 December to enter a plea.

Former Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison in January, nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend.

Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013 at his home in Pretoria, South Africa, in a killing that shocked the world.

Pistorius, now 37, said he fired the gun through a bathroom door, having mistaken Ms Steenkamp for an intruder and claiming he feared for his safety.

The prosecution argued the murder was premeditated and Pistorius shot her after an argument.

Pistorius was initially not found guilty of murder and was instead convicted of culpable homicide (the equivalent of a manslaughter charge in the UK).

He was sentenced to five years in 2014, and was eventually released from prison and placed under house arrest.

A year later, that conviction was overturned when South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal found him guilty of murder.

He was sentenced to six years – which was then increased to 13 years and five months after the sentence was deemed “shockingly too lenient” in an appeal.

The parole board considered his case again today after denying him parole in March.

The decision to give him a second parole hearing came after his lawyer took his case to the Constitutional Court over errors made by the court in calculating when Pistorius would be eligible for parole.

He was initially told he would only be eligible in August 2024, when he was in fact eligible in March.

Granting a second hearing was seen as effectively an admission of the appeal court’s error.

Pistorius was born in South Africa in 1986. At 11 months old, both his legs were amputated below the knee because of a congenital defect.

He went on to compete at the Paralympic Games and became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics.

Known as the Blade Runner because of his prosthetic blades he used to run, Pistorius gained significant fame for his athletic prowess.

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