Biden tests positive for COVID again in ‘rebound’ case
President Joe Biden tested positive for the coronavirus again Saturday, a rebound attributed to the Paxlovid treatment he was taking, but he has not experienced a recurrence of symptoms, the White House physician said. Biden “continues to feel quite well,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a memo released by the White House. “This being the case, there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time, but we will obviously continue close observation.” The positive test, however, means that Biden will resume “strict isolation procedures,” as O’Connor put it, in keeping with medical advice.
New Mexico governor declares state of emergency for drinking water
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency in the northeastern New Mexico city of Las Vegas on Friday, after the area’s drinking water supply was threatened by damage from an out-of-control prescribed burn. While the water was safe to drink, authorities warned that there was only a two-month supply available for Las Vegas, a city of about 13,000 people. The Gallinas River, which serves as the primary drinking source for the city, is covered with ash and soot from the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak fire, which is now nearly contained after burning more than 341,000 acres.
New Hurricane Frank gains force over eastern Pacific
Newly formed Hurricane Frank has been rapidly gaining force over the open eastern Pacific Ocean. But it’s far from being any threat to land. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Frank reached hurricane force late Friday and grew to have maximum sustained winds of 90 mph on Saturday. It was centered about 610 miles southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula and was heading to the northwest at 12 mph. The Hurricane Center says Frank could strengthen somewhat before weakening over cooler waters.
Ukraine calls for investigation into prisoner deaths as outrage grows
As global outrage grew over an explosion that killed at least 50 Ukrainian prisoners held at a Russian detention camp, Ukrainian authorities Saturday called for an international investigation while marshaling evidence they said would prove Russia had orchestrated what they described as a “terrorist attack.” Since the explosion late Thursday at Correctional Colony No. 120, a prison camp in the Russian-occupied eastern region of Donetsk, the warring parties have presented diametrically opposed accounts of what happened, further embittering a war now entering its sixth month. Russian officials claimed that Ukrainians, using precision weapons supplied by the United States, had attacked the prison themselves to deter defectors.
Francis calls abuse of indigenous people in Canada a ‘genocide’
Pope Francis has called the devastation visited on generations of Indigenous people in Canada by European colonizers — carried out with the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church — a “genocide” as he returned to Rome after a six-day trip to the North American country. As well as again denouncing the abuse against Indigenous people, which he had previously called “evil,” the pope — aboard the papal plane Friday — noted that the Canada visit had showed that the limitations of his mobility and the advancement of his age would force him to slow down and possibly reduce the tours that have been a hallmark of his papacy.
Debris from uncontrolled Chinese rocket falls over Southeast Asian seas
Debris from a large Chinese rocket reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean at 12:45 p.m. Eastern time Saturday, according to the U.S. Space Command. The Chinese Manned Space Agency said most of the debris had burned up on reentry over the Sulu Sea, between the island of Borneo and the Philippines. The possibility, however slight, that debris from the rocket could strike a populated area had led people around the world to track its trajectory for days. The rocket launched last Sunday, carrying to orbit a laboratory module that was added to China’s space station.
Iraqi protesters storm parliament in Baghdad, set up sit-in
Thousands of followers of an influential Shiite cleric have stormed into Iraq’s parliament to protest government formation efforts led by his rivals from Iran-backed groups. The protesters — followers of Muqtada al-Sadr — used ropes and chains to topple cement walls around the heavily fortified Green Zone on Saturday, then flooded into the assembly building. It’s the second such breach this week but this time, they didn’t disperse peacefully. Iraqi security forces first used tear gas and sound bombs to try to repel the demonstrators but then backed off. The protesters are now saying they are staging an open-ended sit-in inside the parliament. Some among al-Sadr’s rivals, the Iran-backed political groups, have called for counter-demonstrations while others urged dialogue.
NKorea claims no new fever cases amid doubts over COVID data
North Korea has reported no new fever cases for the first time since it abruptly admitted to its first domestic COVID-19 outbreak and placed its 26 million people under more draconian restrictions in May. The North’s state emergency anti-epidemic center said Saturday it had found zero fever patients in the latest 24-hour period. The country’s death count remains at 74, a mortality rate of 0.0016% that would be the world’s lowest if true. There have been widespread outside doubts about North Korean statistics on the outbreak. Some experts say North Korea has likely manipulated the scale of illness and deaths to help leader Kim Jong Un maintain absolute control.