News
According to data provided by the China Earthquake Networks Center, a moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 struck Longchang City in China’s Sichuan Province on Friday afternoon. The seismic activity was recorded at 1:13 p.m. Beijing time at a depth of 13 kilometers. Seismologists pinpointed the epicenter at 29.23 degrees north latitude and 105.22 degrees east longitude within Neijiang prefecture. As the quake struck, local emergency agencies began initial assessments of potential impacts across the county’s territory.
Business
Al Dahra Agriculture Trading and Egypt’s General Authority for Supply Commodities have activated a five-year wheat supply agreement worth up to US$500 million. The pact moves a 2023 financing framework into an operational import arrangement for Egypt. Al Dahra will supply imported wheat to GASC through financing from the Abu Dhabi Exports Office. The agreement establishes the mechanism for purchases under that existing program. UAE-backed financing supports a five-year wheat supply program for Egypt.
Travel
The influx of foreign visitors to South Korea exceeded 2 million in July 2026, driven by travel activity that remains above pre-pandemic levels. During that month, the country welcomed 2,093,223 international tourists, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. This figure represents a 20.8% increase from the 1,733,199 visitors recorded in July 2025. It also reached 144.6% of the July 2019 count, before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global travel patterns.
Health
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have begun an targeted Ebola immunization campaign in Kisangani, the administrative center of Tshopo Province, aiming to contain the country’s most severe outbreak of the virus to date. Frontline healthcare workers, emergency response personnel, and those with direct contact to confirmed cases are being prioritized during the initial rollout. Health Minister Roger Kamba confirmed that the government launched the vaccination initiative using doses of the Ervebo vaccine to protect frontline staff working in the affected eastern regions.
The European Commission has committed to purchasing €2.1 million worth of PCR tests to support the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak. These versatile, open-platform tests are intended to enhance infection detection capabilities and bolster laboratory infrastructure amid the crisis. This procurement was arranged with the assistance of the European Health and Digital Executive Agency. The delivery process is scheduled to commence in August, providing essential diagnostic supplies as health authorities battle the rising number of cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The outbreak has led to a total of 5,208 confirmed cases and 2,476 fatalities reported by Congolese authorities as of Aug. 18. The epidemic now spans 56 health zones across six provinces situated in the eastern and northeastern regions. Authorities have also recorded 1,115 recoveries, while 730 patients remain hospitalized or in isolation.
Congo’s Ebola outbreak can still be contained within three months if adequate resources are provided to response teams. The latest official figures show 5,021 confirmed cases and 2,378 deaths as of Aug. 16. Currently, cases are spread across 55 health zones in six provinces, with a case fatality ratio of 47.4%. This makes it the deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history and the second-largest Ebola epidemic recorded worldwide.
The World Health Organization confirmed that without swift action to contain unmonitored community spread and address regional supply chain issues, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ebola crisis will break previous death toll records. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus indicated that the ongoing epidemic’s trajectory threatens to surpass the devastating 2014–2016 West African outbreak, which caused over 11,000 fatalities.
The Ebola outbreak in DR Congo has resulted in 1,916 fatalities and 4,209 confirmed cases, according to official figures through Aug. 7. This indicates an increase of 29 deaths from the previous update reporting 1,887. Additionally, health officials have identified 595 patients receiving treatment in isolation, while 828 individuals have recovered from the Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak.
An urgent health crisis in Chad has resulted in 13 deaths since late last month, as authorities confirm an acute waterborne disease outbreak. The Ministry of Public Health of Chad reports that epidemiological data indicates a cholera epidemic causing 13 fatalities, with confirmed and suspected cases rising to 239 across the country. The official statistics show a nationwide case fatality rate of 5.4 percent, which significantly surpasses international standards for emergency outbreak response.
In 2022, obesity was associated with 9,509 fatalities in Belgium, accounting for 8.2 percent of the country’s total deaths, according to recent data from the Belgian public health institute Sciensano. This marks the first systematic effort by public health researchers in Belgium to quantify mortality directly attributable to a high body mass index (BMI). The report indicates that weight-related health issues led to more than one death every hour nationwide. The analysis also reveals that excess weight resulted in over 150,000 lost years of life across all demographic groups during the year.
