Day: September 3, 2021

LUANDA, Angola — First, the river turned red. Then dead fish by the ton floated up to the surface. Then thousands of people started getting sick.

Now, 12 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in what researchers have called “an unprecedented environmental and human disaster” along the Kasai River, a southern tributary of the mighty Congo River.

Researchers and officials with the Congolese government say that the cause was a toxic leak upstream, from the biggest diamond mine in Angola, run by Catoca, a joint venture owned by Endiama, the Angolan state mining company, and the Russian

The World Health Organization is monitoring a new coronavirus variant called “Mu” — known by scientists as B.1.621 — and has added it to the list of “variants of interest” because of preliminary evidence it can evade antibodies.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said the United States was also monitoring the new variant, which was first identified in Colombia in January and now makes up 39 percent of all cases there.

The W.H.O. says the variant has the potential to evade immunity provided by vaccines and antibodies, and because of that, it was listed as