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The classification is the highest alert that the WHO can issue and follows a worldwide upsurge in cases. It came at the end of the second meeting of the WHO's emergency committee on the virus. More than 16,000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries, said WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. There had been five deaths so far as a result of the outbreak, he added. There are only two other such health emergencies at present - the coronavirus pandemic and the continuing effort to eradicate polio. Dr Tedros said the emergency committee had been unable to reach a consensus on whether the monkeypox outbreak should be classified as a global health emergency. However, he said the outbreak had spread aroun...

A landmark deal to resume Ukraine's grain exports - signed hours before the strike - now hangs in the balance. Moscow has not commented on the attack and Kyiv has said preparations are still underway to resume the grain exports despite the apparent breach. But on Saturday President Zelensky said it illustrates how Moscow cannot be trusted to stick to the deal. He vowed to do everything possible to acquire air defence systems able to shoot down such missiles in the future. Ukraine is a major grain exporter, but because of the war, about 20m tonnes of grain is trapped in its ports, unable to leave because of Russian forces. This has lead to food shortages and price rises across Africa, which usually relies on Ukraine and Russia for wheat. ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The top U.S. Air Force general in the Middle East warned on Thursday that Iran-backed militias could resume attacks in the region against the United States and its allies as tensions rise — assaults that could lead to a new Mideast escalation. Speaking to journalists before stepping into his new role at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, with responsibility for military operations in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and across the region, Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich also expressed fears over Russian and Chinese influence taking hold as superpowers vie for economic and military influence in the Middle East. For instance, he said, recent U.S. intelligence that Iran is preparing to send Russia armed and unarmed drones to use in its war on Ukraine “is not a surprise … but it’...

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish officials say a deal on a U.N. plan to unblock the exports of Ukrainian grain amid the war and to allow Russia to export grain and fertilizers will be signed Friday in Istanbul. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said that he, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and officials from Russia and Ukraine will oversee the signing ceremony. It did not provide further details. “The grain export agreement, critically important for global food security, will be signed in Istanbul tomorrow under the auspices of President Erdoğan and U.N. Secretary General Mr. Guterres together with Ukrainian and Russian delegations,” Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a tweet. Guterres has been working on a plan that would enable Ukraine to export millions of t...

MEXICO CITY -- One of Nicaragua’s leading national newspapers announced Thursday on its website that its staff had been forced to flee the country and would continue working from outside Nicaragua. Nicaraguan authorities took control of La Prensa’s offices in August and arrested two of its employees earlier this month. Those arrests came after La Prensa reported on the expulsion nuns from the Missionaries of Charity established by Mother Teresa. The government of President Daniel Ortega has moved repeatedly against independent press outlets, as well as shutting down more than 1,000 civil society organizations. “The persecution by the Daniel Ortega regime intensified this month against the personnel of La Prensa newspaper and forced the outlet’s personnel flee the country,” the pap...

ROME -- Italy is headed for an early election after its president accepted Premier Mario Draghi's resignation Thursday and decided there was no possibility for cobbling together another government following the rapid collapse of the ruling coalition. The demise of Draghi’s coalition in the eurozone’s third-largest economy and the uncertainty of what Italian voters will decide at the polls have dealt a destabilizing blow to the country and Europe amid rising inflation and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Dissolving Parliament "is always the last choice to make, especially if, as in this moment, there are important tasks to carry to completion,'' President Sergio Mattarella said in a brief speech at the presidential Quirinal Palace, where Draghi had tendered his resignation hours earlier. M...