Congo says its mpox outbreak is over after 2 years and more than 2,200 deaths

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – Congo on Thursday declared the end of a two-year outbreak of the mpox disease that’s believed to have caused more than 2,200 deaths in the country. Health Minister Roger Kamba told journalists that the government had made the determination that the outbreak was over and no longer a national emergency.

Wall Street closed for Good Friday, but US futures inch lower

U.S. futures were trading modestly lower early Friday following surprisingly strong jobs data from the federal government. Equities markets are closed for Good Friday, but futures markets were trading into Friday morning, albeit quietly. Futures for S&P 500 dipped 0.3%, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% and Nasdaq futures were down 0.4%.

Paramilitary forces in Sudan kill at least 10 people in hospital drone attack

CAIRO (AP) – Sudan ‘s paramilitary forces killed at least 10 people on Thursday in a drone attack that hit a hospital, said a medical group. Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, said the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF, launched two drone strikes on al-Jabalain Hospital in the White Nile province, hitting an operating theater and a maternity ward.

Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s spy agency says it’s now fair to view the teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as his heir, its strongest assessment yet on the rising political status of the girl who it believes could extend her family’s rule into a fourth generation.

 

 

Immigrants seeking asylum are ordered to countries they've never been to

The Afghan man had fled the Taliban for refuge in upstate New York when U.S. immigration authorities ordered him deported to Uganda. The Cuban woman was working at a Texas Chick-fil-A when she was arrested after a minor traffic accident and told she was being sent to Ecuador.

Airstrikes kill 25 people in Iranian cities as Trump's deadline looms

Strikes on cities across Iran have killed more than 25 people Sunday into Monday, while in Israel’s Haifa two people were found dead and two others were missing in rubble a day after an Iranian attack.

A rare school in Kenya is empowering teenage mothers with education and child care

KAJIADO, Kenya (AP) – Valarie Wairimu has no time to rest during break time at Kenya’s Greenland Girls School. The teenager grabs a snack and goes straight to what makes this school unique: its nursery.

Editorials from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and others

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

World's oldest known tortoise still very much alive despite rumor to the contrary

LONDON (AP) – Reports on April Fools’ Day of the death of the world’s oldest living land animal – a 193-year-old tortoise called Jonathan – were greatly exaggerated.  Jonathan is still kicking – albeit slowly – on the island of St. Helena. “It was a hoax, I can just assure you that he is very much alive.”