Gaza Ceasefire 'Still Possible', Biden Says

US President Joe Biden (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden (Reuters)
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Gaza Ceasefire 'Still Possible', Biden Says

US President Joe Biden (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden (Reuters)

US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip would be “possible” before the end of his presidency.
“Yes. It’s still possible. The plan I put together, endorsed by the G7, endorsed by the UN Security Council, etc., is still viable,” the President said in an interview with CBS.
“And I’m working literally every single day — and my whole team — to see to it that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war. But it easily can,” Biden added.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington last month, Biden had urged him to accept a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
In the TV interview, which is the first since dropping out of the White House race, Biden warned that Republican candidate Donald Trump was “a genuine danger to American security.”
“Mark my words, if he wins... this election, watch what happens,” he said.
“He's a genuine danger to American security. Look, we're at an inflection point in world history... and democracy is the key.”
Biden’s pre-taped interview broadcasted on Sunday is also the first after his failing debate performance against Trump on 27 June, which underlined fears about his age and mental abilities.
“Look, I had a really, really bad day in that debate because I was sick. But I have no serious problem.”
On Saturday, a new poll by the New York Times and Siena College showed US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris taking the lead in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan – three key battleground states, which indicates that the former president has lost the lead he had built in these states over the past year.
Harris is ahead of Trump by four percentage points in those three states, 50% to 46% among likely voters in each state, according to the surveys conducted from August 5-9.

 



WHO Says Suspected Outbreak of Marburg Disease Kills 8 in Tanzania

FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
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WHO Says Suspected Outbreak of Marburg Disease Kills 8 in Tanzania

FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo

The World Health Organization said Wednesday an outbreak of suspected Marburg disease has killed eight people in a remote part of northern Tanzania.
“We are aware of 9 cases so far, including 8 people who have died,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “We would expect further cases in coming days as disease surveillance improves,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.
Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets.
Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and in some cases death from extreme blood loss. There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg.
WHO said its risk assessment for the suspected outbreak in Tanzania is high at national and regional levels but low globally. There was no immediate comment from Tanzanian health authorities.
An outbreak of Marburg in Rwanda, first reported on Sept. 27, was declared over on Dec. 20. Rwandan officials reported a total of 15 deaths and 66 cases, with the majority of those affected healthcare workers who handled the first patients.