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NEW YORK: Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo. The person had traveled to eastern Africa and was treated in Northern California upon return, according to the California Department of Public Health. Symptoms are improving and the risk to the public is low. Mpox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that's in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals. Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in Africa that was spread through close contact including through sex. More than 3,100 confirmed cases have been reported just since late September, according to the World Health Organization. The vast majority of them have been in three African countries - Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, cases of travelers with the new mpox form have been reported in Germany, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, Zimbabwe, and the United Kingdom. Health officials earlier this month said the situation in Congo appears to be stabilizing. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated Congo needs at least 3 million mpox vaccines to stop the spread, and another 7 million vaccines for the rest of Africa. The current outbreak is different from the 2022 global outbreak of mpox where gay and bisexual men made up the vast majority of cases.

Coldplay's upcoming concert in Ahmedabad on January 25, 2025, sold out within minutes of tickets going live, prompting ticketing platform BookMyShow to add a second show on January 26, 2025. However, fans were left disappointed once again as the second set of tickets also sold out just as quickly.The tickets for Coldplay's highly anticipated concert at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, became available on BookMyShow at noon on Saturday, but demand was overwhelming, with online queues reportedly numbering in the lakhs. As soon as the first show sold out, a notification appeared on the platform at 12:30 pm informing fans that a second show would be added, with ticket sales for the new date starting at 1 pm.Despite this, the second batch of tickets also sold out within minutes, leaving many fans venting their frustration on social media. “I’m exhausted,” one fan posted on X, as others shared similar sentiments.— 18prajakta (@18prajakta) — pmacker21 (@pmacker21) — tejsannuthi (@tejsannuthi) — Aads_2207 (@Aads_2207) — Priyank_asharma (@Priyank_asharma) This is set to be Coldplay’s fourth concert in India, following their previously announced shows in Mumbai in January 2025. The band, known for their chart-topping hits and massive global following, will perform at the 1.32 lakh-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium. The announcement of the second Ahmedabad show makes these concerts, with a potential audience of 1,00,000 fans, Coldplay's biggest to date.The band's India tour, which includes multiple performances at DY Patil Sports Stadium in Navi Mumbai, has generated immense interest, causing both excitement and frustration among fans. In light of the overwhelming demand and reports of unauthorized resales, the Enforcement Directorate has launched an investigation into the alleged illegal sale of tickets, which had been sold at inflated prices on secondary platforms.

Veteran investor Samir Arora, reacting to CLSA's move to raise India’s allocation to 20% overweight while reducing China exposure, cautioned on social media platform X that investors should not get ‘unnecessarily excited’, as the focus remains on U.S. markets rather than China.“CLSA report should not make you unnecessarily excited for a) it is CLSA and not CIA; b) In my view investors were not selling India to buy China but to buy USA,” read Arora’s post on X.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CLSA report should not make you unnecessarily excited for <br/>a) it is CLSA and not CIA<br/>b) In my view investors were not selling India to buy China but to buy USA<br/><br/>Separately, India to USA shift trade would have largely played out with average Indian stock down 10-15% and average US…</p>&mdash; Samir Arora (@Iamsamirarora) <a href="https://twitter.com/Iamsamirarora/status/1857399394628456748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>He noted that the India-to-USA trade shift has likely played out, with Indian stocks down 10-15% and U.S. stocks up 10% since late September, meaning those looking to trade now have already missed a 25% swing.Additionally, he believes that the India-to-USA trade is over now.On Friday, global brokerage firm CLSA raised its 'overweight' on Indian stocks and cut its allocation on China in its Asia Pacific portfolio, reversing its switch from Mumbai to Shanghai in October in the wake of the run-up in Chinese equitiesThe escalation of a trade war with Donald Trump getting re-elected as the US President, scepticism around the strength in the bounce in Chinese stocks, and lower-than-expected stimulus by Beijing are the reasons for the reversal of its optimism around China, it said.Also read: Trump 2.0 and its impact on 3Is: Interest rates, inflation & India"We committed a little more at the start of October by tactically deploying some of our over exposure to India towards China, at the time reducing our Indian overweight to 10% from 20% and raising our China allocation to a 5% overweight from the benchmark. We now reverse that trade," said CLSA.The global brokerage firm also stated that India has witnessed strong net foreign investor selling since October, while investors they met this year have been waiting specifically for such a buying opportunity to address Indian underexposure.Domestic appetite remains strong, offsetting foreign jitters, and valuation, though pricey, is now a little more palatable, it said.Also read: Bitcoin faces profit-taking, trades below $87,500; Ethereum and other cryptos drop up to 17%(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)