Briefly

EGYPT

Dozens killed in massive church fire

A fire ripped through a church in a densely populated neighborhood of the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Sunday, leaving at least 41 dead and injuring 14, the country's Coptic Church said. The cause of the blaze in the Abu Sefein church was not immediately known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short-circuit, according to a police statement. Fifteen firefighting vehicles were dispatched to the scene to put out the flames while ambulances ferried the casualties to nearby hospitals. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared on his Facebook page that "I have mobilized all state services to ensure that all measures are taken".

WHO

New monkeypox terms to avoid stigma

The World Health Organization has announced new names for variants of the monkeypox virus now in circulation. The names are being used to avoid causing any cultural or social offense, the WHO said in a statement on Friday. A group of global experts convened by the WHO decided on the new names. Experts will now refer to what had been called the Congo Basin clade (group of variants) in Central Africa as Clade I, and to Clade II for what had been known as the West African clade. The latter consists of two subclades, Clade IIa and Clade IIb, of which Clade IIb was the main group of variants circulating during this year's outbreak.

SYRIA

US sends tankers to steal oil, media says

US forces sent 89 oil tankers to carry stolen oil from Syria to US bases in Iraq on Saturday, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported. The latest oil convoy went into Iraq through the al-Mahmoudieh crossing, which has been used by the United States to send stolen Syrian oil across the border, the agency said. The development came two days after the US sent a convoy of 144 tankers along the same route, it said. SANA said the theft of oil is among the US' ongoing violations of international principles that have seen the country plunder the natural resources of Syria and other nations, leading to starvation.

Xinhua - Agencies