Puerto Rico
Dire warning about Zika
The U.S. surgeon general on Thursday urged Puerto Rico to step up its public education campaign against Zika as he warned that 25 percent of the island will be infected with the mosquito-borne virus by year’s end. Dr. Vivek Murthy said during a visit to the U.S. territory that local officials need to boost mosquito control efforts and make contraception more accessible and affordable. “We cannot afford to wait much longer,” he said. “I am deeply concerned about how quickly the virus is spreading.”
Thailand
Blasts kill one, injure 20
Thai police on Friday were searching for clues to who set off two small bombs in the seaside resort town of Hua Hin. The twin blasts killed one person and wounded nearly 20 more — half of them foreigners. It was not clear who was behind the attack. But the timing suggested it could have been carried out by opponents of the nation’s ruling junta, whose leadership last weekend organized a successful referendum on a new constitution that critics say will bolster the military’s power for years to come. The bombs were set off by remote control, half an hour apart, according to police in Hua Hin.
MEXICO
Pollution alert curbs traffic
Authorities issued a pollution alert for Mexico City and surrounding suburbs Thursday after ozone levels reached more than 150 percent of acceptable levels, something rarely seen during the summer rainy season. The alert triggered a reduction in the number of automobiles allowed to circulate Friday and also put restrictions on some commercial and industrial activities. A high-pressure system, weak surface winds and solar radiation were making it difficult for air contaminants to disperse.
Nigeria
Two polio cases reported
Nigeria has reported the first two cases of polio after more than two years, in an area newly liberated from Islamic extremists who attacked polio vaccinators in the past, the government and the World Health Organization said Thursday. Nigeria’s removal from WHO’s list of polio-endemic countries in October had meant the entire African continent was free of the crippling disease. Two children have been paralyzed by polio in northeastern Borno state in two different local government areas that had been cut off by Boko Haram’s Islamic extremist uprising, Health Minister Isaac Adewole said.
Compiled from wire reports