Uncertainty continues over safety in the Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz crisis continued on Monday, with no let-up in claims and counter-claims about the key waterway from Iran and the United States.
Amid the uncertainty, UN maritime officials continued to urge vessels to exercise “maximum caution” in the region of the Strait, which is responsible for shipping around 20 per cent of the world’s energy.
An estimated 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the channel, on an estimated 2,000 boats.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) added that it was working to verify a series of recent attacks and security warnings issued to commercial vessels.
According to the UK Navy’s maritime safety portal, a tanker was reportedly hit by unknown projectiles north of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, on Monday.
That incident followed an attack on a bulk carrier by multiple small craft near Iran on Sunday.
Other vessels in the area have been instructed via radio to move from their anchorages, reflecting the volatile security environment.
Since late February, at least 41 incidents affecting vessels operating in and around the Arabian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman have been reported.
WHO leads response to cruise ship hantavirus outbreak
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that it is assisting with the response to a deadly outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship.
The vessel is located in the Atlantic Ocean and the outbreak has triggered an international public health response.
WHO’s role involves coordinating evacuations and risk assessments following the death of three people and multiple suspected infections. One patient remains in intensive care in South Africa.
To date, one case has been confirmed after verification in a laboratory, but there are five additional suspected cases among those on board.
WHO officials stressed that while the situation is serious, it remains contained and the disease is not easily transmitted between people. Here’s the agency’s Bhanu Bhatnagar now:
“Hantavirus infections are uncommon and they’re usually linked to exposure to infected rodents. They can be severe in some cases, and they are not easily transmitted between people. The risk to the wider public remains low at this time, and there’s no cause for concern or travel restrictions.”
Worldwide, at least 10,000 and perhaps more than 100,000 infections of hantavirus occur every year; most are in Asia and Europe.
In humans, symptoms usually begin between one and six weeks after exposure to an infected carrier and typically include fever, headache, muscle ache and gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting.
Press freedom is shrinking and reporters still risk deadly danger
Reporters from all over the world spoke up on Monday to highlight the deadly dangers facing them and their colleagues on the frontline, to mark World Press Freedom Day.
Their alert echoes an appeal from UN Secretary-General António Guterres who’s called for the protection of the rights of journalists everywhere to “build a world where the truth – and truth-tellers – are safe.”
In Gaza alone, nearly 300 reporters have been killed since Hamas-led terror attacks against Israel on 7 October 2023, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
In Afghanistan, women journalists continue to report on the rights and freedoms that have been taken away from them by the de facto authorities, said Afghan journalist and founder of Zan Times, Zahra Nader:
“The Taliban have waged a war on women’s rights in Afghanistan and still there are women journalists and especially women who are reporting despite being banned and erased from society. That is what freedom of the press means to me: it’s not about the right to speak, it is about the right to be heard.”
In Haiti, 14 media workers have been killed there since 2021, according to UNESCO.
Haitian print and radio journalist Jean Daniel Sénat said that he and his colleagues are “constantly under threat” from criminal groups.
The Caribbean island nation faces widespread insecurity as well as deepening poverty.
Some 1.4 million people have been forced to flee their homes there, largely because of the violence perpetrated by gangs.
Daniel Johnson, UN News
Source of original article: United Nations (news.un.org). Photo credit: UN. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of Global Diaspora News (www.globaldiasporanews.com).
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