Zika virus ‘likely to spread across Americas”

The Zika virus is likely to spread across nearly all of the Americas, the World Health Organization has warned. The infection, which causes symptoms including mild fever, conjunctivitis and headache, has already been found in 21 countries in the Caribbean, North and South America. It has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains and some countries have advised women not to get pregnant. No treatment or vaccine is currently available. The virus was first detected in 1947 in monkeys in Africa. There have since been small, short-lived outbreaks in people on the continent, parts of Asia and in the Pacific Islands.

But it has spread on a massive scale in the Americas, where transmission was first detected in Brazil in May 2015. Large numbers of the mosquitoes that carry the virus and a lack of any natural immunity is thought to be helping the infection to spread rapidly.

Manhunt for California escapees continues

The manhunt for three Southern California inmates who fled an Orange County prison by rappelling from a jail’s roof entered a fourth day Monday as authorities pleaded for public help in the search. Sheriff’s Lt. David Sawyer said the men should be considered extremely dangerous — and may well be hiding near the Orange County Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana. All are accused of violent crimes, and at least one of them is connected to Vietnamese gangs in the area, Sawyer said.

“We feel that they may be embedded somewhere in the community, and that is why we are reaching out to the community,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer said someone in the area must know where they are or where they are headed and that the identity of anyone who provided information could be protected. Rewards for information leading to their capture total about $50,000.

Florida State to Pay Jameis Winston’s Accuser $950,000 in Settlement

A woman who accused Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston of raping her in late 2012 has settled her lawsuit with Florida State, where both were students at the time of the incident, for $950,000. The settlement, reached Monday, also commits Florida State to five years of sexual assault awareness programs and greater transparency, according to a statement released by the woman’s lawyer.

“I’ll always be disappointed that I had to leave the school I dreamed of attending since I was little,” the woman, Erica Kinsman, said in the statement. “I am happy that FSU has committed to continue making changes in order to ensure a safer environment for all students.”