An urgent health alert has been issued to passengers on a flight from Abu Dhabi to Dublin after a fellow traveller was found to have measles.
Ireland's Health Service Executive has asked some passengers on board the Etihad Airways flight, which landed in the Irish capital at 6.30am on Saturday, to contact them.
The health body advised passengers who are pregnant, immunocompromised or have children under the age of 12 months to come forward.
They were asked to contact their local HSE Department of Public Health or call the HSE on 1800 700 700, or 00 353 1 240 8787 if calling from outside of Ireland.
The HSE also called on other people on board the flight to be aware of the signs and symptoms of measles. Any potential symptoms should be monitored until March 30, which would mark 21 days from the potential date of exposure.
Symptoms of the virus include a runny nose, sneezing and coughing, sore or red eyes, a temperature of 38°C or above and a rash, which usually appears on the head and neck before spreading to the rest of the body.
It said passengers who recorded symptoms should isolate at home and seek advice by phone.
“HSE Public Health teams will continue to work with Etihad Airways,” the health executive said.
No details have been disclosed on the passenger who contracted the virus.
Etihad Airways said it was following safety procedures in regards to the measles case.
"Etihad Airways has been informed by health authorities in Ireland that a passenger has tested positive for measles after the arrival of flight EY045 from Abu Dhabi to Dublin on 9 March," an Etihad Airways spokesperson said.
"Etihad Airways is following procedures and guidelines specified by the relevant health authorities and as per government guidelines, all close contact tracing will be carried out by the respective authority.
"The safety and wellbeing of its passengers and crew is Etihad’s number one priority."
The Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland has also called on passengers on the flight to be vigilant.
“Following a risk assessment with public health colleagues in the Health Service Executive, the PHA is asking any residents of Northern Ireland who were on Etihad Airways flight EY045 from Abu Dhabi to Dublin, which arrived in Dublin on Saturday March 9 2024, to be aware of the signs and symptoms of measles,” it said.
“These treatments will work best if given within the next few days.
“Those who are at greatest risk are those who were on Etihad Airways flight EY045 and are: children under 12 months old; pregnant women; and people who are immunocompromised.”
Alarm raised over measles surge
An Irish man died due to complications caused by measles in February. The man in his 40s contracted the virus after travelling to Birmingham where he went to hospital before being diagnosed on his return to Ireland.
The area is one of the worst affected in Britain, amid rising rates of the disease in the UK, with the head of the UK Health Security Agency Jenny Harries warning that the outbreak will get substantially worse unless action is taken to raise vaccination rates.
Between January and October last year, there were more than 30,000 measles cases reported in Europe, compared to just 941 cases for the entirety of 2022.
Poor vaccination coverage has been cited as being largely to blame, with the Covid-19 pandemic contributing to missed immunisations among children.
Possible complications of measles include blindness, encephalitis – which is an infection causing brain swelling and potentially brain damage, severe diarrhoea and related dehydration, ear infections and severe breathing problems including pneumonia.
Complications are most common in children under five years old and adults over the age of 30.
According to the World Health Organisation, the virus can be transmitted by an infected person from four days before the onset of the rash to four days after the rash erupts.
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Opening Rugby Championship fixtures: Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)
Leading all-time NBA scorers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
MATCH INFO
Liverpool v Manchester City, Sunday, 8.30pm UAE
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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UAE 125 for 5
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
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HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
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Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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