UN News Today 06 May 2026 |

Hantavirus outbreak: Another passenger contracts disease 

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that another passenger from the ship linked to the hantavirus outbreak has contracted the disease.

So far, the incident has claimed the lives of three people on board and sparked an international alert, coordinated by WHO.

The latest to show symptoms is a man who had been travelling on the vessel, the Hondius at the centre of the outbreak, before travelling home to Switzerland. 

He is being treated in a Zurich hospital after responding to an email from the ship’s operator.

“In line with the International Health Regulations (IHR), WHO is working with relevant countries to support international contact tracing, to ensure that those potentially exposed are monitored and that any further disease spread is limited,” the agency said in a post on X.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that three passengers “have just been evacuated” from the ship and were en route to the Netherlands for treatment.

Middle East crisis: Security Council meets behind closed doors as Hormuz crisis continues

As the Security Council met on Wednesday on the continuing Strait of Hormuz crisis, communities in southern Lebanon during the purported ceasefire there, endured more violence and mass evacuation.

The meeting of the Security Council at UN headquarters in New York took place behind closed doors. 

Top UN political representative Rosemary DiCarlo was due to speak for the Secretary-General, after a request to meet by Bahrain in response to Iranian attacks on the 4th of May against the United Arab Emirates. 

Their ambassadors briefed reporters ahead of the meeting, denouncing what they called Iran’s “heinous attacks” against the UAE on Monday – the latest strikes linked to the bombing of Iran by Israel and the US.

In a related development, the UN International Maritime Organization confirmed an attack on a French vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, that injured eight crew members.

Shipping is effectively frozen in the channel, amid an ongoing standoff between Iran and the United States, which proposed a draft Security Council Resolution penned with Gulf States requiring Iran “to cease attacks, mining and tolling” in the Strait of Hormuz.

In southern Lebanon, meanwhile, the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL has continued to provide support to communities still living in an active war zone.

According to the Lebanese authorities, two people were killed in Deir Kifa in an Israeli airstrike. Israel has insisted that it is targeting Hezbollah fighters.

Israel urged to release arrested Gaza-bound flotilla members OHCHR

Gaza news now, and the UN human rights office, OHCHR, has called on Israel to release two members of a humanitarian sea convoy after they were arrested in international waters, amid allegations that one of those detained was tortured.

In a statement, OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan cited “disturbing accounts of severe mistreatment” of activists Saif Abukeshek and Thiago de Avila and said that they continue to be held without charge by Israel.

Mr. Al-Kheetan insisted that there was nothing criminal about attempts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by the Global Sumud Flotilla – a civil society initiative:

“It is not a crime to show solidarity and attempt to bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population in Gaza, who is in dire need of it.”

The call comes amid mounting international concern over restrictions on humanitarian access and aid to Gaza.

UN agencies and partners have repeatedly warned that the enclave’s people face severe shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies after months of conflict and blockade.

Daniel Johnson, UN News