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Philippines Detects First Mpox Case this Year, Yet to Determine Strain

An undated colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles (pink) found within an infected cell (yellow), cultured in the laboratory, captured at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. NIAID/Handout via REUTERS
An undated colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles (pink) found within an infected cell (yellow), cultured in the laboratory, captured at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. NIAID/Handout via REUTERS
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Philippines Detects First Mpox Case this Year, Yet to Determine Strain

An undated colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles (pink) found within an infected cell (yellow), cultured in the laboratory, captured at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. NIAID/Handout via REUTERS
An undated colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles (pink) found within an infected cell (yellow), cultured in the laboratory, captured at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. NIAID/Handout via REUTERS

The Philippines has detected a new case of the mpox virus in the country, the first since December last year, its health department said on Monday, adding it was awaiting test results before being able to determine the strain.
The patient was a 33-year-old Filipino male who had no travel history outside the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
"We are awaiting sequencing results and will update once available," its spokesperson Albert Domingo said when asked about the strain.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency, its highest form of alert, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that had spread to neighboring countries.
A new form of the virus has triggered global concern as it seems to spread easily through routine close contact.
A case of the new variant was confirmed on Thursday in Sweden and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent. Pakistan on Friday confirmed at least one case of the mpox virus in a patient, but said they did not yet know the strain of the virus.
The new case in the Philippines is the 10th laboratory-confirmed case the health department has detected. Its first case was in July 2022.
"Symptoms started more than a week ago with fever, which was followed four days later by findings of a distinct rash on the face, back, nape, trunk, groin, as well as palms and soles," the Philippine DOH said in a statement.
The disease, caused by the monkeypox virus, leads to flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. It is usually mild but can kill, with children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, all at higher risk of complications.

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Argentina to Put Iranians and Lebanese on Trial in Absentia over 1994 Jewish Center Bombing

People hold pictures of victims during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary the Mutual Israelite Association of Argentina (AMIA) bombing attack in Buenos Aires on July 18, 2024. (AFP)
People hold pictures of victims during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary the Mutual Israelite Association of Argentina (AMIA) bombing attack in Buenos Aires on July 18, 2024. (AFP)
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Argentina to Put Iranians and Lebanese on Trial in Absentia over 1994 Jewish Center Bombing

People hold pictures of victims during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary the Mutual Israelite Association of Argentina (AMIA) bombing attack in Buenos Aires on July 18, 2024. (AFP)
People hold pictures of victims during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary the Mutual Israelite Association of Argentina (AMIA) bombing attack in Buenos Aires on July 18, 2024. (AFP)

An Argentine judge on Thursday ordered that the seven Iranians and three Lebanese citizens accused of involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires face trial in absentia for the first time in the long-running case plagued by setbacks and controversy.

For years Argentine courts have ordered that the suspects — Iranian former officials and Lebanese nationals — be apprehended and brought before a judge because Argentina never allowed trials in absentia.

Past efforts to encourage foreign governments to arrest the suspects, including an influential advisor to Iran's supreme leader, on the basis of Interpol red alerts never gained traction.

But right-wing President Javier Milei, a loyal ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and fierce critic of Iran who studies the Torah with a rabbi despite being born Catholic, pushed a bill through Congress earlier this year that authorizes trials in absentia for fugitives that have long sought to evade justice, allowing Argentina to put the defendants on trial for the first time.

On Thursday, Judge Daniel Rafecas approved the trial in absentia following a request from the special prosecutor’s office responsible for investigating the 1994 attack, the deadliest in the South American country’s history, which killed 85 people two years after a separate bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires killed 22 people.

Rafecas described the trial as the only way to avoid impunity now more than 30 years after the bombing.

“Trial in absentia, however limited, remains a tool that allows us, at the very least, to attempt to uncover the truth, reconstruct what happened, and, above all, give those representing the victims a place to express themselves publicly in this process,” he wrote in his ruling.

Last year, a high court in Argentina ruled that the Iranian government had masterminded the 1994 attack on the center, known by its acronym AMIA, and that members of Lebanon's Iran-backed group Hezbollah had carried it out.

Iran has long denied any involvement in the attacks.

Among the seven Iranians who are subject to Argentine arrest warrants are former Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian, former commander of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Mohsen Rezaei and former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, who now advises Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The three Lebanese citizens include Salman Raouf Salman, who allegedly coordinated the attack, and fellow Hezbollah members Abdallah Salman and Hussein Mounir Mouzannar. All have been declared in contempt of court, in some cases decades ago.

Advancing the AMIA case has been a key goal of Milei, who concluded a trip to Jerusalem on June 12, the night before Israel launched its unprecedented air campaign targeting Iran's nuclear sites and military leadership.

Milei escalated his rhetoric against Iran and in support of Israel during the 12-day war between the regional foes, calling Iran “an enemy of Argentina” and praising Israel as “saving Western civilization.”