Bloomberg reported on Saturday that a rare “flesh-eating bacteria” causing disease and capable of killing individuals within 48 hours is spreading in Japan.

By June 2, there were 977 cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) recorded in Japan, surpassing the previous year’s record of 941 cases, as reported by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, which has monitored the disease since 1999.

The Group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria, often causing swelling and sore throat, can sometimes lead to severe symptoms such as limb pain, swelling, fever, low blood pressure, necrosis, respiratory issues, organ failure, and death, according to Bloomberg.

“Most deaths occur within 48 hours,” stated Ken Kikuchi, a professor of infectious diseases at Tokyo Women’s Medical University. “A patient may notice foot swelling in the morning, which can spread to the knee by noon, resulting in death within 48 hours.”

Kikuchi warned that at the current infection rate, Japan could see up to 2,500 cases this year, with a “terrifying” mortality rate of 30%. He also emphasized the importance of hand hygiene and treating open wounds.

The US CDC notes that while anyone can contract STSS, it is most common in adults aged 65 and older. Individuals with open wounds, diabetes, or alcohol use disorder are at increased risk.

Bloomberg also reported that several other countries have recently experienced outbreaks of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. In late 2022, at least five European nations informed the World Health Organization of an increase in invasive group A streptococcus (iGAS) disease cases, which includes STSS. The WHO linked this rise to the lifting of Covid restrictions.

On Saturday, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, called for the removal of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) from U.S. elections.

Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX, made this comment in response to a post by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate, regarding alleged voting irregularities in Puerto Rico’s primary elections involving EVMs.

In a post on X, Kennedy Jr. stated, “Puerto Rico’s primary elections just experienced hundreds of voting irregularities related to electronic voting machines, according to the Associated Press. Luckily, there was a paper trail so the problem was identified and vote tallies corrected. What happens in jurisdictions where there is no paper trail?”

Kennedy Jr. emphasized that U.S. citizens need assurance that every vote is counted and that elections are secure from hacking.

He further advocated for a return to paper ballots to prevent electronic interference in elections.

Responding to Kennedy Jr.’s post on X, Elon Musk suggested that electronic voting machines should be eliminated, citing the risk of hacking by humans or AI, despite it being small, as still too significant.

Musk’s remark has received over 100,000 likes on X, with 20,000 reposts and more than 8,000 reactions.

Among the reactions, one user suggested eliminating mail-in voting and drop boxes as well. Another agreed, claiming that electronic voting machines enable election cheating. A user named Shame Horne remarked that Musk would have been banned from Twitter for election interference if he hadn’t purchased the platform. Another user suggested that electronic voting machines with paper backups and separate tabulators are a good solution. “Each state should have 1 day to count! That’s all it takes,” said another user.

On Friday, the Supreme Court struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that enables semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns, which was used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that the Trump administration did not adhere to federal law when it banned bump stocks following a 2017 attack in Las Vegas. During this incident, a gunman used assault rifles with bump stocks to fire over 1,000 rounds into a crowd at a country music festival, resulting in 60 deaths and hundreds of injuries within 11 minutes.

A Texas gun shop owner challenged the ban, contending that the Justice Department incorrectly classified the accessories as illegal machine guns.

The Biden administration defended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), asserting that it made the correct decision to classify bump stocks as enabling firearms to fire at rates of hundreds of rounds per minute.

This case marked the latest gun-related issue before the Supreme Court, where a conservative supermajority had previously expanded gun rights in a landmark 2022 decision and is currently considering another case about federal laws preventing individuals under domestic violence restraining orders from possessing guns.

The arguments in the bump stock case focused more on whether the ATF had overstepped its authority rather than on Second Amendment rights.

Justices from the court’s liberal wing argued that it was “common sense” to classify anything capable of unleashing a “torrent of bullets” as a machine gun under federal law. In contrast, conservative justices questioned why Congress had not enacted a ban on bump stocks and expressed concerns about the implications of the ATF reversing its stance a decade after declaring the accessories legal.

The Supreme Court took up the case following a division among lower courts regarding bump stocks, which were invented in the early 2000s. Under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the ATF determined that bump stocks did not convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns. The agency reversed this position at Trump’s urging after the Las Vegas shooting and another mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school, which left 17 dead.

Bump stocks are accessories that replace a rifle’s stock, utilizing the gun’s recoil energy to bump the trigger against the shooter’s stationary finger, thus enabling a firing rate comparable to a machine gun. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have their own bans on bump stocks.

The plaintiff, Texas gun shop owner and military veteran Michael Cargill, was represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, funded by conservative donors like the Koch network. His attorneys acknowledged that bump stocks allow rapid fire but argued they require more effort from the shooter to maintain firing.

Government lawyers countered that the effort required from the shooter is minimal and does not legally differentiate bump stocks from machine guns. The Justice Department maintained that the ATF reversed its position on bump stocks after a more thorough examination prompted by the Las Vegas shooting, reaching the correct conclusion.

Elon Musk gave a nod to Donald Trump in front of his numerous fans and Tesla Inc. shareholders at the automaker’s annual meeting, mentioning that the former president often calls him and is a “huge fan” of the futuristic Cybertruck.

“I have had some conversations with him, and he does call me out of the blue for no reason,” Tesla’s CEO said during the meeting at the company’s Austin headquarters on Thursday. “I don’t know why, but he does.”

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has stated that he would dismantle President Joe Biden’s policies aimed at boosting electric vehicle sales. He has also claimed that EVs won’t work and will harm US auto workers.

Despite this, Trump and Musk have recently grown closer, with Musk advising the former president on cryptocurrency policy.

At a rally in Arizona, Trump recently praised Musk, saying he was a “big fan” of both EVs and Musk.

Musk noted that Trump is “very nice when he calls.” The Tesla CEO said he told Trump that EVs are beneficial for the future and that the US leads in battery-powered cars.

“A lot of his friends now have Teslas, and they all love it, and he’s a huge fan of the Cybertruck,” Musk said at the shareholder meeting. “So I think maybe those are contributing factors.”

During a lengthy Q&A session at Tesla’s meeting, Musk also responded to questions about his physical, mental, and emotional health. One man, calling Musk an “absolute idol,” asked if he was doing everything to “take care of yourself, safety and health, for the future of the company.”

Musk thanked him for the concern and remarked, “I probably need to work out and not get assassinated or something.”