International
WHO chief urges deeper probe into Covid lab leak theory
AFP/Editor
The World Health Organization chief called Tuesday for investigators looking into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic to delve deeper into a theory about a possible lab leak incident.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed a long-delayed report from an international mission tasked with probing how the virus that causes Covid-19 first jumped to humans, saying it “advances our understanding in important ways”.
But in a briefing to member states, he stressed it also “raises further questions that will need to be addressed by further studies”.
The report, compiled by WHO-appointed international experts and their Chinese counterparts, did not draw any firm conclusions, but did rank a range of hypotheses according to how likely they thought they were.
The report, seen by AFP ahead of its Tuesday publication, had judged a lab-leak hypothesis “extremely unlikely”, saying the virus behind Covid-19 had most probably jumped from bats to humans via an intermediary animal.
But Tedros urged them to look deeper into the lab theory.
“Although the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, this requires further investigation, potentially with additional missions involving specialist experts, which I am ready to deploy,” he said.
The WHO chief also voiced concern that the international expert team had “expressed the difficulties they encountered in accessing raw data” while in China.
“I expect future collaborative studies to include more timely and comprehensive data sharing,” he said.
International
Concerns persist as Pope Francis faces complications amid hospitalization
Pope Francis, who remains hospitalized in critical condition due to pneumonia affecting both lungs, had a good night and is “resting,” the Vatican reported on Monday morning as concerns over the 88-year-old pontiff continue to grow.
“The night went well; the pope slept and is resting,” stated a Vatican communiqué on the 11th day of his hospitalization, the longest since his election in 2013. “The complexity of his clinical condition and the time required for pharmaceutical treatments to take effect necessitate caution regarding his prognosis,” the report added.
While his anemia has improved and his thrombocytopenia—a decrease in blood platelet count—has remained stable thanks to blood transfusions received on Saturday, “some blood tests indicate a mild initial kidney insufficiency, which is currently under control,” according to his medical team.
International
Armed group kills eight in Mexico’s most violent state, Guanajuato
An armed group shot and killed eight people in the state of Guanajuato, the most violent region in Mexico, authorities reported on Sunday.
The victims—five women and three men—were in the street when they were gunned down on Saturday night, according to the state prosecutor’s office. The attack took place in the municipality of Cortázar, where in 2023, armed men stormed a water park and killed seven people, including a child.
Also in Guanajuato, on Sunday, authorities arrested Christian Alejandro “N,” known as “Cholo,” whose last name has been withheld due to ongoing legal proceedings.
The suspect, captured by the National Guard, has been identified by local media as a top hitman leader for the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel.
Guanajuato accounted for the highest percentage of homicides in Mexico in January, making up 13.3% of the total, according to official figures.
The state, home to major industrial and tourist hubs—including manufacturing plants for Mazda and Toyota—has become a battleground between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, recently designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, and the Santa Rosa de Lima gang.
International
Newborn dies after being thrown from hotel window in Paris
A newborn died on Monday in Paris after being thrown from a hotel window by its mother, an 18-year-old American student, with the umbilical cord still attached, according to the prosecutor’s office and a police source.
The young woman threw the baby from the second floor of a hotel in eastern Paris, the prosecutor’s office stated. “The newborn received emergency medical care but did not survive,” it confirmed, as first reported by Paris Match. The infant was pronounced dead at 7:45 AM (6:45 AM GMT) at the Robert Debré Hospital in Paris, a police source told AFP.
Authorities were alerted after the baby was discovered wrapped in a cloth, with the umbilical cord still attached, according to the police source. The mother had given birth in a second-floor hotel room before throwing the baby out of the window, the source added.
Officials have launched a homicide investigation and have taken the mother into custody. She was reportedly part of a group of young adults traveling through Europe.
The young woman was transported to the hospital for surgery following the childbirth, the police source said.
According to Paris Match, the mother was in Paris on a study trip with other American students.
Concerns persist as Pope Francis faces complications amid hospitalization
Armed group kills eight in Mexico’s most violent state, Guanajuato
Newborn dies after being thrown from hotel window in Paris
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