Zika funding: Senate likely to advance $1.1 billion
The Australian Olympic Committee announced on Monday that Australian athletes at the Olympics will be supplied with condoms which manufacturers say will offer "near complete" antiviral protection against Zika. It has been linked to birth defects, including microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads and incomplete brain development. However, a man in his 70s who was infected with Zika died in Puerto Rico in April of complications from the virus, making him the first US death from the disease, health officials said.
Obama requested the funding in February and has been forced to tap unspent 2015 funds from the battle against Ebola to finance nearly $600 million in anti-Zika efforts.
The Senate is expected to cast initial votes on the alternatives on Tuesday. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Democratic Sen.
"Providing "$1.1 billion is barely adequate for mosquito control and education, for a year", he said, adding that "$1.9 billion is better but not enough". Marco Rubio of Florida, who supports the full Obama request. It comes three months after Obama requested $1.9 billion to battle the virus, which can cause severe birth defects, the AP reported.
"While the administration appreciates that the Congress is finally taking action to address the Zika virus, the funding provided in (the House bill) is woefully inadequate to support the response our public health experts say is needed", the White House said in a statement.
President Barack Obama's top aides advised him to veto a pending House of Representatives bill that would provide even less money.
A local insect expert has a serious warning for everyone in Atlanta: the mosquito carrying the Zika Virus - Aedes aegypti - has been spotted in the city.
United Nations proposal would ask European Union ships to enforce Libya arms embargo
He said that as well as countering IS, the GNA should take full control of Libyan ministries, backed by the worldwide community. It has won the backing of factions in western Libya but the Tobruk parliament has yet to accept it.
The Senate is voting this afternoon on three separate measures to fund the administration's efforts against Zika at upwards of $1 billion. But the House GOP sees that bill as too generous, so Republicans in the lower chamber cut that total roughly in half.
"It has taken lives..."
"I think pregnant women should stay away from areas that have had dengue outbreaks in the continental US", which includes the Florida Keys, Houston and the border of Texas and Mexico, she says.
All 45 Senate Democrats voted for the $1.1 billion bill. IN has confirmed six cases of Zika virus in residents so far this year and all have been associated with worldwide travel.
The virus has caused panic across the Americas, with some countries advising women to hold off on getting pregnant. It also can be transmitted sexually from an infected partner. Public health officials warn the same could happen in the US during the summer months, and have warned Americans to take precautions.
Despite Chan's concern about the Zika outbreak, not a single session at next week's meeting is focused on the virus, even though Zika is expected to come up in a number of discussions at the assembly. There can be a rash, joint pain and a fever.