Local authorities in the city of Bayan Nur in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia issued a warning on Sunday after a hospital reported a case of suspected bubonic plague. It followed four reports of plague in people there last November, including two of pneumonic plague, a deadlier variant.
The internet sprung to life with dire predictions of a second pandemic and historical references to the Black Death, which is believed to have killed a third of Europeans between 1347 and 1351 – at least 25 million people.
The threat today is very different. Here’s what you need to know.
What is the bubonic plague?
Bubonic plague, also known Plague bacillus or Yersinia pestis, attacks the lymph nodes, leading to swelling, pain and pus formation.
Although related, it differs from septicaemic plague (which if it enters the bloodstream can cause meningitis and endotoxic shock) and pneumonic plague, which produces severe pneumonia.
Without prompt and effective treatment, 50 to 60 per cent of cases of bubonic plague are fatal, the World Health Organisation says. But the disease is entirely treatable – more on that below.
Didn’t it die out years ago?
Mostly, but cases do still occur. The US has averaged seven cases per year for the past few decades, says the US Centres for Disease Control, and Madagascar and other nations have experienced a low number of cases in recent years.
Cases have also occurred in Inner Mongolia before, so it seems the current coronavirus pandemic is stoking fear of other diseases.
“Because plague is a disease of wildlife, it is very difficult to eliminate it completely,” said Jimmy Whitworth, Professor of International Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
How can humans contract it?
The disease is usually spread via fleas living on rodents – the majority of US cases of human infection came from marmots and prairie dogs – but can also be contracted through contact with contaminated fluid or tissue of an animal that died from the disease.
Humans can spread the disease between one another by infectious droplets, but it requires the infected person to be in very close contact and have a case of plague pneumonia.
The CDC said this type of spread has not been documented in the US since 1924, but still occurs with some frequency in developing countries.
Is it preventable or treatable?
Yes to both. For those regularly exposed to the disease, there is a vaccine, although it is not widely available. It can be treated with simple antibiotics.
“It is good that this has been picked up and reported at an early stage because it can be isolated, treated and spread prevented,” said Dr Matthew Dryden, a consultant microbiologist at Hampshire Hospital NHS Trust in the UK.
“Bubonic plague is caused by a bacterium and so unlike Covid-19 is readily treated with antibiotics.”
Should we be worried about the case in Mongolia?
“Bubonic plague is a thoroughly unpleasant disease and this case will be of concern locally within Inner Mongolia,” said Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton in the UK.
“However, it is not going to become a global threat like we have seen with Covid-19. Bubonic plague is transmitted via the bite of infected fleas, and human-to-human transmission is very rare.”
The WHO said the case is being managed well.
“We are monitoring the outbreaks in China, we are watching that closely and in partnership with the Chinese authorities and Mongolian authorities,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said at a UN press briefing in Geneva.
“At the moment we are not … considering it high-risk but we are watching it, monitoring it carefully,” she said.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
In%20the%20Land%20of%20Saints%20and%20Sinners
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERobert%20Lorenz%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Liam%20Neeson%2C%20Kerry%20Condon%2C%20Jack%20Gleeson%2C%20Ciaran%20Hinds%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
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Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
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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
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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England 290 & 346
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In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
