Tanzanian health authorities said that they had reinforced surveillance at the country’s border entry points after cases of mpox (monkeypox), an infectious disease caused by the mpox virus, were reported in neighbouring countries, including Burundi, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Englibert Kayombo, acting head of government communications in the Ministry of Health, on Sunday, said teams of health workers are deployed to the country’s border points to step up surveillance against the viral disease.

“The health workers are screening people arriving in the country and those departing from the country,” Kayombo told Xinhua news agency in an interview. “Until now, we don’t have any Tanzanians diagnosed with mpox.”

He also said since Tanzania is not an island, contingency plans have been put in place in case anyone is diagnosed with the disease.

On Monday, the East African Community (EAC), a regional bloc, called on its eight member states to educate their citizens on how to protect themselves and prevent the spread of mpox.

The alert followed reports from the World Health Organization that Burundi and the DRC, both members of the EAC, were experiencing an outbreak of the viral mpox disease.

Reports also indicated that Kenya recently confirmed its first mpox case at the Taita-Taveta border point. The virus was detected in a long-distance truck driver, travelling from Uganda to Rwanda through Kenya.

The mpox virus spreads from animals to humans and is transmitted between people through close contact, contaminated objects, and respiratory droplets.

Mpox symptoms include skin rash or lesions, fever, intense headache, muscle aches, back pain, general body weakness, and swollen lymph nodes, typically lasting two to four weeks. AGENCIES

Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai will meet Union Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar in New Delhi on Monday, along with fishermen representatives.

This visit is to petition the Union Minister about the regular attacks on Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy in mid-sea.

Recently, a fisherman was killed while the boat in which he was fishing near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) was subject to attack by the Sri Lankan Navy. While the deceased is identified as Malaisami two other fishermen of the same boat, Muthu Maniyandi and Mookaiya were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and later handed over to Indian authorities.

At present, 87 fishermen and 120 mechanised boats from Tamil Nadu are in the custody of the Sri Lankan Navy.

Annamalai taking the fishermen’s representatives to New Delhi and holding a meeting with the Union Minister for External Affairs is a move that would give a major setback to the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu.

Fishermen of Ramanathapuram district are on an indefinite strike following the death of Malaisami and are not entering the seas for fishing.

Tamil Selvam, a fisherman from Ramanathapuram, while speaking to IANS said: “Sri Lankan Navy is creating major problems for us in the sea, and even if we are not crossing the IMBL and are well within Indian waters, we have been targeted. We are not able to venture out into the sea for our daily living and this has to stop. Both Central and state governments should work in unison and make sure that we are in a comfortable fishing zone.” AGENCIES

The Turkish Foreign Ministry advised its citizens to leave Lebanon and avoid travelling to the country amid rising regional tensions.

“There is a possibility that the security situation in Lebanon could deteriorate rapidly due to recent developments in our region,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

“Our citizens should avoid travelling to Lebanon unless it is essential,” it said.

The ministry also advised Turkish citizens in Lebanon to exercise caution and avoid travelling to Nabatieh, South Lebanon, Bekaa, and Baalbek-Hermel provinces unless it is mandatory, reports Xinhua news agency.

It also advised Turkish citizens “to leave Lebanon if possible while commercial flights are still in operation.”

Confrontations between the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel rose recently after the latter accused Hezbollah of attacking a football pitch in the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights, killing a dozen people. Israel retaliated by launching three missiles on Tuesday evening in Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing Fouad Shokor, Hezbollah’s top military commander, and seven civilians.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has threatened a definite and painful response to the Israeli attack at the appropriate time and place. AGENCIES

 The United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned “far-right thuggery” in his televised address as riots continue across the country following the deadly knife attack in Southport.

“I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, either directly or those whipping up this disorder online,” Starmer said on Sunday.

Three children died, and multiple others were injured after the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in Southport last Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.

A 17-year-old boy named Axel Rudakubana, born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents has been charged with murder.

However, disinformation spreading online about the nationality of the boy and his religious affiliation has fueled hatred towards Muslims and the immigrant population in general, leading to violent clashes between far-right protesters and police officers across the UK. The protests reached a climax during the weekend.

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for public order, BJ Harrington, said on Sunday that since Saturday night, there have been 147 arrests connected to violence. He said he expected that the number would rise in the coming days.

“Disinformation is a huge driver of this appalling violence, and we know a lot of those attending these so-called protests are doing so in direct response to what they’ve read online,” Harrington said.

Following violent protests in major cities including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds, Nottingham, Sunderland and Belfast on Saturday, riots were seen in places such as Middlesbrough, where burning wheelie bins were thrown at police, and Rotherham, where at least one police officer was injured as rioters hurled missiles and stormed a Holiday Inn Express thought to have housed migrants. In Bolton, police have been given extra powers to calm violence after bottles and missiles were thrown at them.

Referring to the violent attack on the Rotherham hotel, Starmer said: “There is no justification for taking this action.”

The Prime Minister said he would not “shy away from calling it what it is” and called the violence “far-right thuggery.”

In a press conference on Friday, Starmer urged big social media companies to take responsibility for combatting misinformation and disinformation.

Former UK Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Rishi Sunak said the unrest across the country is “violent, criminal behaviour that has no place in our society.”

“The shocking scenes we’re seeing on the streets of Britain have nothing to do with the tragedy in Southport,” Sunak said on X, adding that the police have “our full support to deal with these criminals swiftly.”

Humza Yousaf, former first minister of Scotland, said on X that the police “clearly do not have a handle on this situation” and called for military intervention. AGENCIES

A US armored unit is conducting a routine exercise to quickly deploy soldiers from the US mainland to South Korea as part of efforts to maintain rapid response capabilities, the US Army stationed in the South said Monday.

Last month, a battalion under the 1st Armored Division in Texas was mobilised to a US military base near Daegu, 233 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to take part in the Pacific Fortitude exercise, according to the 8th Army, Yonhap news agency reported.

The troops were notified of the drills on July 17, and just six days later, they began drawing out combat equipment at Camp Carroll, alongside the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, it said. The exercise also tests the use of equipment already in South Korea.

Photos released by the 8th Army showed troops transporting M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles at the base to a training area.

“Having this critical equipment already in place allows us to project this power at the right time and at the right speed,” Brigadier General Jin Pak, commander of the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, said in a release.

“This deployment readiness exercise proves to our allies that the United States is committed to the defence of the ROK-US alliance,” he said, using the acronym for the South’s official name — Republic of Korea. AGENCIES

The Yemeni government issued a formal warning regarding an impending healthcare crisis, as a severe reduction in international funding threatens the closure of key medical facilities nationwide.

The imminent closure of more than 1,000 key health facilities due to declining international funding could potentially endanger the lives of 500,000 women in the war-ravaged Arab country, according to an official statement released by the state-run Saba news agency.

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak on Sunday convened a high-level government meeting in Aden, the country’s southern port city, to address the crisis, Xinhua news agency reported.

During the meeting, he called for the formation of a government committee to develop a strategic plan for assessing the health sector’s needs and identifying necessary international interventions.

He also urged international and regional partners to renew their “vital and continuous support” for health services to avert a potential humanitarian disaster.

According to a report presented by Yemeni Minister of Public Health and Population, Qasim Buhaibeh, during the meeting, the funding shortfall threatens to deprive 600,000 children of essential vaccination and healthcare services, weakening the country’s ability to combat epidemic outbreaks.

Across Yemen, 46 per cent of health facilities are only partially functioning or completely out of service due to shortages of staff, funds, electricity, medicines and equipment, according to the World Health Organization. AGENCIES

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that long-awaited F-16 fighter jets have arrived in Ukraine.

“F-16s in Ukraine. We ensured this,” Zelensky said on Sunday in a post on Telegram.

The Ukrainian pilots have already started using the F-16 aircraft, he added, not specifying how many jets were supplied to Ukraine, Xinhua news agency reported.

Zelensky thanked Denmark, the Netherlands, the US and Ukraine’s other partners for accepting Kiev’s request for F-16s.

Western media reported that Ukraine received the first 10 F-16 fighter jets on the last day of July. AGENCIES

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) on Monday said it has filed a comprehensive complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), bringing to light Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices in the online advertising sphere.

In the complaint, the ADIF outlined Google’s dominant position and “purportedly abusive behaviour” in both the online search advertising and online display advertising markets.

The apex body representing homegrown startups alleged that Google’s control over major online platforms, coupled with the fact that it derives 97 per cent of its revenue from advertising, “has led to practices that stifle competition and adversely affect Indian businesses.”

Prateek Jain, Associate Director-Startup and Alliances, Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), said the digital advertising landscape is critical for the growth and sustainability of India’s startup ecosystem.

“Our complaint to the CCI is a crucial step towards ensuring that this vital market operates on principles of fairness, transparency, and equitable competition. We believe that addressing these issues will not only benefit advertisers and publishers but will also foster innovation and create a more vibrant digital economy in India,” Jain added.

The complaint highlighted how Google imposes unfair conditions on advertisers in the realm of online search advertising, through its Ad Policies.

According to the ADIF, these included restrictions on call assets and prohibitions on third-party technical support. The foundation also raised concerns about the opacity of Google’s ad ranking system, describing it as a “black-box approach” that leaves advertisers in the dark about the services they are paying for.

Furthermore, ADIF argued that Google’s practices regarding trademark usage in keyword bidding create an artificial inflation of advertisement prices. Google allows competitors to bid on trademarked keywords, leading to a bidding war that ultimately benefits Google at the expense of advertisers and trademark owners.

The foundation also highlights inconsistencies in Google’s ad policy enforcement and the lack of transparency in its ad review and redressal processes. These practices often result in unfair denial of access to Google’s online search advertising platform for many advertisers.

In the display advertising market, ADIF’s complaint exposes how Google leverages its dominance across the entire value chain of the ad tech stack. Google engages in self-preferencing by tying its products together, such as DoubleClick for Publishers with AdX, and Display & Video 360 with AdX.

ADIF emphasised that as digital advertising spend continues to grow rapidly in India, it is imperative to address these market imbalances promptly. AGENCIES

A disappointing job scenario in the US coupled with the fear of a reverse Yen carry trade, following an interest rate hike in Japan, led Asian markets to crash on Monday.

However, the Indian benchmark indices showed resilience compared to its peers, down around 2.5 per cent.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index nosedived nearly 13 per cent amid worries over the state of the US economy.

South Korean stocks tumbled by the most on record to a near nine-month low amid intensifying fears over a US economic slowdown. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plummeted a record 234.64 points, or 8.77 per cent, to close at 2,441.55, after dipping to as low as 2,273.97 at one point, following a 3.65 per cent loss the previous session, according to Yonhap news agency.

Heavy selling pressure was seen in all major Asian markets. Taipei fell by 4.43 per cent, Jakarta was down nearly 2 per cent, Hong Kong and Shanghai were down 1.43 per cent and 0.83 per cent), respectively.

The financial markets reacted to a report which showed that hiring by US employers slowed last month.

According to market analysts, equity markets are reacting to economic weakness, highlighted by disappointing earnings from a few US consumer-focused companies.

“It’s crucial to monitor these developments closely in the coming months,” said Trideep Bhattacharya, President and CIO-Equities, Edelweiss MF.

The VIX, an index that measures how worried investors are, fell about 20 per cent. The world’s largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin went down almost 14 per cent to $54,155.

Yeap Jun Rong of IG said that investors will be watching for data on the services sector from the US Institute for Supply Management.

Abhishek Banerjee, smallcase Manager and Founder at Lotusdew, said that bad job reports and impending conflict in the Middle East are all contributing to risk off today.

“However, indicators like oil price volatility, US yields and unfilled positions indicate the opposite. I think today is one of the buy-on-dip days for a long-term investor,” he added.

Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart said that the global market is reeling as bears enter with a cocktail of bad news.

“The fear of a reverse Yen carry trade, following an interest rate hike in Japan, was the initial catalyst. This was compounded by fears of a recession in the USA after extremely poor job data, which spooked market sentiment,” he added.

The rally in the global stock markets has been driven mainly by consensus expectations of a soft landing for the US economy.

This expectation is now under threat with the fall in the US job creation in July and the sharp rise in the US unemployment rate to 4.3 per cent, said experts. AGENCIES

Global markets were in the deep red on Monday as the US economic slowdown weighed heavily on the financial markets.

Heavy selling pressure was seen in all major Asian markets. Japan crashed by 10 per cent, Seoul tumbled over 8 per cent, Taipei fell by 4.43 per cent, Jakarta was down nearly 2 per cent, Hong Kong and Shanghai were down 1.43 per cent and 0.83 per cent) respectively.

South Korea’s news agency Yonhap reported that due to a crash trading in the local benchmark index KOSPI 200 index held for five minutes.

The US stocks fell for the second consecutive session on Friday last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding 1.51 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite sinking 2.43 per cent.

A disappointing jobs report spurred investor fears that the world’s largest economy is headed toward a recession, the report said

Indian stock markets also opened in the deep red on Monday. At 11 a.m., the Sensex was at 78,798, down 2,183 points or 2.70 per cent, and the Nifty was at 24,061, down 657 points or 2.66 per cent.

Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart said, “The global market is reeling as bears enter with a cocktail of bad news. The fear of a reverse Yen carry trade, following an interest rate hike in Japan, was the initial catalyst. This was compounded by fears of a recession in the USA after extremely poor job data, which spooked market sentiment.”

“The rally in the global stock markets has been driven mainly by consensus expectations of a soft landing for the US economy. This expectation is now under threat with the fall in the US job creation in July and the sharp rise in the US unemployment rate to 4.3 per cent. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also are a contributing factor,” other experts said. AGENCIES