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At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel MV Hondius which reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC. The luxury cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on April 1 from Argentina's Ushuaia and is expected to arrive in Spain's Canary Islands on May 10. About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries were initially aboard the luxury cruise, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report. Of the 28 nationalities onboard, 38 are from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada, and two crew members from India, among others, the BBC reported. The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed. A 69-year-old Dutch woman, confirmed to have the virus, has died; her Dutch husband and a German w
At least 64 people were killed, including at least 13 children, in a strike on a hospital in Sudan's western Darfur region last week, the World Health Organization said Saturday. The strike on the Al Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur on Friday also injured at least 89 people and rendered the hospital non-functional, Tedros Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, said on X. Sudan slid into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into war throughout the country. The RSF has blamed the military for the strike on the hospital. The army has denied the attack, but two military officials said the strike was targeting a nearby police station. They spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to discuss the matter openly. The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher. The
The government on Thursday told Parliament that global air quality rankings cited by various organisations are not conducted by any official authority and that the World Health Organisation's (WHO) air quality guidelines serve only as advisory values, not binding standards. Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha on India's position in global indices such as IQAir's World Air Quality Ranking, the WHO Global Air Quality Database, the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) metrics, the Environment Ministry said no official country-wise pollution ranking is carried out worldwide. Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said the WHO's guidelines are meant to help countries set their own standards, taking into account geography, environmental conditions, background levels and national circumstances. He said India has already notified its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 12 pollutants to protect public health and ..