Briefly

AMERICAS

Dengue death toll hits 7,700 this year

Reported cases of dengue in the Americas nearly tripled to a record high of more than 12.6 million this year, including 21,000 severe cases and more than 7,700 deaths, the Pan American Health Organization said on Tuesday. This year's outbreak of dengue, the most common mosquito-borne disease worldwide, is the biggest since records began in 1980, PAHO said. The deadly viral illness has hit Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico especially hard, with the four accounting for 90 percent of cases and 88 percent of deaths, it said, adding that children are at elevated risk of contracting dengue and suffering its more severe consequences.

SUDAN

Humanitarian crisis in nation the biggest ever

Sudan has become the "biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded" after 20 months of devastating conflict between rival generals, the International Rescue Committee said on Wednesday. "The country accounts for 10 percent of all people in humanitarian need, despite being home to less than 1 percent of global population," it said in its 2025 Emergency Watchlist. Since April last year, a conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 12 million. Across the country, nearly 26 million people — about half the population — are facing acute hunger, according to the United Nations.

GAZA STRIP

Bombardments kill at least 33 Palestinians

Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip killed at least 33 Palestinians on Wednesday, most of them in an airstrike on a house in Beit Lahiya town in the north of the enclave, medics said. The Beit Lahiya strike killed at least 22 people, including women and children, health officials said. More than 30 people were living in the multistory building before it was struck, and several family members remained missing as rescue operations continued through the morning, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported. The Israeli military said it was checking the report. Earlier on Wednesday, at least seven Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, medics told Reuters.

UNITED STATES

Trump picks envoys for Greece, Turkiye

US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday picked Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host turned political fundraiser, as the next US ambassador to Greece and Tom Barrack, the chair of his 2016 inaugural committee, the next ambassador to Turkiye. Guilfoyle had been engaged to Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr, but the two recently split up, according to US media. Barrack is a longtime friend of Trump, and also a private equity executive who faced legal scrutiny for his work on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.

Boeing's 737 MAX production resumes

Boeing said on Tuesday it has resumed production of the 737 MAX in Renton, Washington state, after a nearly three-month stoppage because of a lengthy labor strike. Its Everett facility, where the 767, 777 and 777X are produced, will resume operations in the coming days, it added. The two plants were shuttered for more than seven weeks after some 33,000 workers voted down an initial contract offer in September. On Nov 4, workers ratified a revised proposal, setting the stage for a resumption of work.

Agencies Via Xinhua