Briefly

SWITZERLAND

WHO labels variants with Greek alphabet

COVID-19 variants previously labeled with their scientific names will now be renamed under a system that uses the Greek alphabet, the World Health Organization said on Monday. The Geneva-based organization said in a statement that many people use the name of the country where the variant was first identified, a simple method for everyday discussions but one that can also create stigmatization for the country's population. As an example, the variant B.1.1.7 has often been called by some media the "British variant" due to the difficulty of remembering its exact name. According to the WHO, that specific strain of the virus will now be called the "Alpha variant". The WHO urged governments, media and ordinary people to use the newly created system and drop scientific names and countries of the variants' first identification in their communications.

ISRAEL

Netanyahu's party challenges rival's bid

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party on Tuesday challenged the legality of a bid by a rival to head a new government, but the last-gasp attempt at extending his leadership was rejected by President Reuven Rivlin. Naftali Bennett, Netanyahu's former defense minister, announced on Sunday he would join a proposed alliance with centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid, serving as its premier first under a rotation deal. They have until Wednesday to present a final pact to Rivlin, who handed Lapid the task of forming a new government after Netanyahu failed to do so in the wake of a close election on March 23.

DR CONGO

At least 50 killed in attacks on villages

At least 50 people were killed in two attacks overnight in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern region, monitors said on Monday. A local official blamed the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, militia, which has been linked to the Islamic State group, but others said the attacks may have been ethnic in origin. Citing a provisional toll, the Kivu Security Tracker said 28 people had been killed in Boga village and 22 in nearby Tchabi in an area known for ADF attacks and community friction.

FRANCE

Heat deaths tipped to rise with warming

More than a third of summer heat-related fatalities are due to climate change, researchers said on Monday, warning of even higher death tolls as global temperatures climb. Previous research on how climate change affects human health has mostly projected future risks from heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and other extreme events made worse by global warming. The findings were published in Nature Climate Change.

Xinhua - Agencies