Israeli warplanes strike Lebanon after Hezbollah hits Shebaa Farms

New Delhi: A man who recently travelled from a country experiencing mpox transmission has tested positive for the disease, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

"The previously suspected case of mpox has been verified as a travel-related infection. Laboratory testing has confirmed the presence of mpox virus of the West African clade-2 in the patient," it said.

The ministry said that it is an isolated case, similar to the earlier 30 cases reported in India from July 2022 onwards. It is not a part of the current public health emergency reported by WHO which is regarding clade 1 of mpox, it underlined.

"The individual, a young male who recently travelled from a country experiencing ongoing mpox transmission, is currently isolated at a designated tertiary care isolation facility. The patient remains clinically stable and is without any systemic illness or comorbidities," the ministry said.

The case aligns with earlier risk assessments and continues to be managed according to established protocols, it said, adding that public health measures, including contact tracing and monitoring, are actively in place to ensure the situation is contained.

"There is no indication of any widespread risk to the public at this time," the health ministry stated.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) last month declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) for the second time in view of its prevalence and spread across many parts of Africa.

New Delhi: Two days after he was granted bail and walked out of prison after six months, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced his shock resignation from the top post at a party meeting this afternoon. "Two days later, I will resign as Chief Minister. I will not sit on that chair till the people announce their verdict. Elections in Delhi are months away. I got justice from the legal court, now I will get justice from the people's court. I will sit on the Chief Minister's chair only after the order of the people," he said. 

"I want to ask the people of Delhi, is Kejriwal innocent or guilty? If I have worked, vote for me," he said, adding that a meeting of AAP MLAs will be held within the next two days to choose the new Chief Minister for the national capital.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said a member of the party will be named Chief Minister after his resignation. He said he would go among the people and ask for their support. Mr Kejriwal also demanded that the elections in the national capital, scheduled for February, be held in November along with the polls in Maharashtra.

In his address to the AAP workers, Mr Kejriwal launched an all-out attack against the Narendra Modi government and said it was more dictatorial than the British.

He said he did not resign as Chief Minister despite being arrested because he wanted to save democracy. "They have registered cases against (Karnataka Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah, (Kerala Chief Minister) Pinarayi Vijayan, (Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata didi (Banerjee). I want to appeal to non-BJP, do not resign if they register cases against you. This is their new game," he said.

Mr Kejriwal said he had also spoken to former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia about the issue. Mr Sisodia too was recently granted bail in connection with corruption allegations surrounding Delhi's now-scrapped liquor policy. "I spoke to Manish, he too has said that he will handle the post only after the people say we are honest. My and Sisodia's fate are in your hands now," he said.

Responding to the shocking development, BJP's Harish Khurana questioned why the AAP leader is creating a drama. "Why after 48 hours? he should resign today. In the past too, he has done this. People of Delhi are asking, he can't go to the secretariat, can't sign documents? What is the point then?" Asked if the BJP was ready for early polls, Mr Khurana replied, "We are ready, whether it is today or tomorrow. We will return to power in Delhi after 25 years."

The United Nations has warned that Israel is using “lethal war-like tactics” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, more than a week after the occupying entity launched a massive military aggression in the Palestinian territory, killing dozens of people.

At a press conference in New York on Tuesday, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Stéphane Dujarric, said that the Tel Aviv regime had resumed its aggression in Tulkarm and Jenin.

“The UN has recorded more than two dozen fatalities over the past week, including children,” he said, adding that multiple organizations mobilized by the OCHA were set to carry out an assessment in Jenin but were denied access by the Israeli authorities. 

“OCHA warns that access impediments are impacting the ability to provide meaningful humanitarian response,” Dujarric said, noting that the movement of ambulances and medical teams has been impeded and delayed since the onset of the current aggression.

In the early hours of August 28, the Israeli military conducted its biggest operation – dubbed “Camps of Summer” – in the West Bank in over 20 years, deploying hundreds of troops and airstrikes on Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, which are major centers of Palestinian resistance against the occupying entity.

The ongoing military aggression in the West Bank is currently concentrated in the city of Jenin, whose streets and infrastructure have been damaged by over 70 percent since the onset of the “Camps of Summer”, according to its municipality.

Dujarric also warned that Israeli forces continue to employ “lethal war-like tactics” in the West Bank, including airstrikes, with people being killed, injured and displaced.

While in Tulkarem on Saturday, OCHA teams verified that 120 Palestinians, including over 40 children, were displaced due to the destruction of their homes.

“At the time of the assessment, 13,000 people in Nour Shams refugee camp experienced water cut-offs, attributed to damages caused to the water network, and sewage overflow was observed. The teams also noted that the population was traumatized and in need of psychosocial support,” the OCHA report said.

Since the onset of the current aggression in the West Bank, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces has increased to 34. This includes 19 in Jenin, 8 in Tulkarm, 4 in Tubas, and 3 in al-Khalil. The total death toll in the occupied West Bank has now reached 685 since October 7 last year.

The heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank come as the Israeli regime has since October been conducting a barbaric onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of more than 40,000 people, most of them women and children.