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EU-donated mpox vaccines arrive in Kinshasa

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EU-donated mpox vaccines arrive in Kinshasa

The 100,000 doses of the MVA-BN vaccine, manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, have been donated through HERA, the EU’s agency for health emergencies.

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The first batch of mpox vaccines has arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo, three weeks after the World Health Organization declared mpox outbreaks in 12 African countries a global emergency. 

The 100,000 doses of the MVA-BN vaccine, manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, have been donated by the European Union through HERA, the bloc’s agency for health emergencies. 

“This will be the first delivery of the vaccine to the country. The second delivery of around 100,000 doses is expected to arrive in the following days,” said EU Commission spokesperson, Stefan de Keersmaecker.

“These deliveries are part of the 215,000 vaccine doses that the European Commission, HERA, that is Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority procured and also pledged to share with affected countries in Africa.”

Congolese authorities confirmed a further 100,000 doses are expected to be delivered on Saturday.

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UNICEF is going to be in charge of the vaccination campaign in the most impacted provinces, Congo’s Health Minister Roger Kamba told reporters after the delivery of the vaccine.

But it remained unclear when the vaccination drive would begin.

About 380,000 doses of mpox vaccines have been promised by Western partners such as the European Union and the United States, Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters last week.

That is less than 15% of the three million doses authorities have said are needed to end the mpox outbreaks in Congo, the epicentre of the global health emergency.

Last week, the organisation said there were more than 22,800 mpox cases and 622 deaths on the continent and that infections had jumped 200% in the last week.

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The majority of cases and deaths are in the DRC, where the new mpox variant was first detected and where most mpox infections are in children under 15.

Following the global mpox outbreak in 2022, wealthy countries quickly responded with vaccines and treatments from their stockpiles.

However, only a few doses have reached Africa despite pleas from governments there.

The MVA-BN vaccine has already been used in Europe and the United States, the EU said, and it is authorised for use in adults.

The European Medicines Agency is examining additional data to be able to administer it to children aged 12 to 17, which could happen at the end of the month.

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215,000 doses were pledged and purchased for an undisclosed amount specifically to be donated to Congo, said Laurent Muschel, the Director-General of HERA.

The US said last week that it donated 10,000 doses of mpox vaccines to Nigeria, where the disease has been common.

It is the first known donation to Africa since the current outbreaks.

Nigeria has recorded 40 cases of the virus this year, according to Nigeria’s CDC.

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Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, had been spreading mostly undetected for years in Africa before the disease prompted the 2022 outbreak in more than 70 countries, Dr. Dimie Ogoina, the chair of WHO’s mpox emergency committee told reporters last month.

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Thousands of dinosaur footprints discovered on rock faces in northern Italy

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Thousands of dinosaur footprints have been found in a national part in northern Italy known as the Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio Branchi.

Experts say they are from enormous herbivores that lived there 210 million years ago in the Triassic period.

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Sporticast 510: The Sordid Saga of a Legends’s Former Mansion

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Sporticast 510: The Sordid Saga of a Legends’s Former Mansion

On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the latest in a strange sports real estate story.

In 2012, Michael Jordan listed his Bulls-era mansion outside Chicago for about $29 million, or $41 million in today’s dollars. It took more than a decade and multiple price drops for the home to sell, which it did late last year for $9.5 million. The buyer, a partner in a local real estate firm, has since tried multiple ways to monetize the property. Initially he tried to sell timeshares for $1 million each, but that plan was thwarted by the local town council. He’s back in front of that same council this week, seeking approvals related to his next plan: to build a “multi-sensory experience focused entirely on personal transformation.” The tourist attraction would require the use of a parking lot on an adjacent nature preserve.

Next the hosts discuss major upset in college sports. Nebraska’s women’s volleyball team, the top seed in this year’s NCAA tournament, was upset by Texas A&M in the quarterfinals. Riding a wave of volleyball commercial growth, the Huskers spent more on the sport than any other public school in the country, according to numbers from Sportico‘s college finance database. The team reported $2.57 million in ticket sales during the 2023-24 school year, the third highest total for any women’s team at any public school in the country, trailing only Iowa and UConn women’s basketball.

They close by taking about the Big 12‘s proposed private equity plan. A few days after Big 12 member Utah laid out its own on-campus capital ambitions, Sportico reported that the Big 12 is in talks to set up what essentially amounts to a credit facility for its members via a potential partnership with RedBird Capital-backed Collegiate Athletic Solutions.

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(You can subscribe to Sporticast through Apple, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts.)

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Bystanders seen confronting Australian gunman during ISIS-inspired deadly rampage

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Bystanders seen confronting Australian gunman during ISIS-inspired deadly rampage

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Bystanders were seen on video confronting a gunman before his ISIS-inspired deadly mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, could begin. 

Despite their efforts to disarm him, the gunman eventually overpowered the two bystanders and killed them, according to authorities.

The bystanders were later identified as Boris and Sofia Gurman, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The outlet reported that the Gurmans were walking by as they saw the assailant exiting a vehicle. Though Boris had the upper hand for a moment after picking up the shooter’s rifle, the attacker allegedly picked up another rifle during the confrontation and fatally shot the couple, making them the first victims of the massacre.

“We are heartbroken by the sudden and senseless loss of our beloved Boris and Sofia Gurman,” the family said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. “While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness.”

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RABBI KILLED IN SYDNEY HANUKKAH ATTACK HAD WARNED AUSTRALIAN PM ABOUT RISING ANTISEMITISM

Bystanders were seen confronting one of the gunmen behind the deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Australia’s Bondi Beach. (Jenny/Reuters)

In the video, obtained and verified by Reuters, an eyewitness replaying the dashcam footage recalls how the incident unfolded.

“You see the shooter here — he fired shots from here, shooting from here. And then look, this guy went and tackled him (shooter), knocking him to the ground. At that point, he had already grabbed the gun,” the witness, who was speaking in Mandarin, said in the video, according to a Reuters translation.

Authorities have identified the shooters as a father, 50, and a son, 24. The father was killed at the scene, while the son was shot by police and taken to the hospital in critical condition. Australian authorities also said that the shooters had improvised explosives and homemade ISIS flags in their vehicle.

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On Sunday, the pair opened fire on families celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and leaving more than two dozen injured. The Australian government is investigating the incident as a terror attack targeting the Jewish community.

GAL GADOT, ASHTON KUTCHER CONDEMN ANTISEMITIC TERROR ATTACK AT BONDI BEACH HANUKKAH EVENT

Police teams take security measures at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday after a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community during the first night of Hanukkah. ( Claudio Galdames A/Anadolu via Getty Images)

During the deadly rampage, another bystander, Ahmed al Ahmed, an Australian immigrant, wrestled a gun away from one of the shooters. His attorney said that Ahmed does not regret intervening, despite being “riddled with bullets” and in intense pain.

“He doesn’t regret what he did. He said he’d do it again. But the pain has started to take a toll on him,” Ahmed’s attorney, Sam Issa, told The Sydney Morning Herald. “He’s not well at all. He’s riddled with bullets. Our hero is struggling at the moment.”

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The outlet reported that Ahmed has undergone his first round of surgery and that Issa fears the hero bystander may lose his left arm.

“He’s a lot worse than expected. When you think of a bullet in the arm, you don’t think of serious injuries, but he has lost a lot of blood,” Issa said.

President Donald Trump praised Ahmed for his actions, calling him “a very, very brave person” and saying that he has “great respect” for him.

People attend a floral memorial in honor of the victims of a mass shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday, at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, Dec. 16, 2025. (Flavio Brancaleone/Reuters)

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The Bondi Beach attack is the worst mass shooting Australia has seen since the country implemented sweeping reforms after a shooter killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996. Following the Bondi Beach attack, Australian leaders have vowed to strengthen the country’s already restrictive gun laws.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced several proposed actions, including limiting the number of guns one can possess.

“The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws,” he said after meeting with his National Cabinet.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano, Bradford Betz and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

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