A new, unidentified illness has been reported in the northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is buffeted by multiple public health and humanitarian crises, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday.

Two clusters of cases and deaths related to the unidentified disease were reported in two health zones of the DRC's Equateur Province, the WHO said in a report.

By February 15, the WHO said, 431 cases and 45 deaths had been reported.

The first cluster of cases and deaths were reported in January in Boloko Village, in Bolomba Health Zone. Preliminary investigations traced the outbreak's origin to three community deaths among children under five years old, who died after developing a fever, headache, diarrhea, and fatigue, which later progressed to hemorrhage.

Their respective teams may not have ideal buildup to the Champions Trophy 2025 but Eoin Morgan and Shane Watson are hopeful that England and Australia would do well in the event while picking India as the top favourite.

England, under a new coach in Brandon McCullum, were hammered by India in both the T20I and ODI series while Australia have been besieged by injuries losing four top players -- Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc -- to injuries while Marcus Stoinis has announced a sudden retirement from the national team.

Australia also lost 0-2 to Sri Lanka in the ODI series preceding the Champions Trophy.

A lawyer of the Secunderabad City Civil & Criminal Court collapsed and died on Wednesday, in the second such incident in the city in two days.

B. Venkata Ramana, collapsed in the premises of the Indian Bank's Marredpally Branch. He is reported to have sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot.

The 58-year-old had come to the bank to pay a challan when he suddenly collapsed and succumbed. It is suspected that the lawyer suffered cardiac arrest.

This is the second such incident in the city in as many days.

India won their second match in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 (Men) season on Wednesday after beating World Champions Germany 1-0 at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

Gurjant Singh scored the only goal of the match as India climbed to seventh in the standings.

It was a good response from India after they had succumbed to a 4-1 loss to Germany on Tuesday. The Indian defence, marshalled by Captain Harmanpreet Singh, put in a solid display to secure an important win.

After a bright start, India took the lead four minutes into the match as Gurjant Singh scored in back-to-back matches.

In a series of tragic events, several people lost their lives in road accidents in Madhya Pradesh at different locations, an official said on Wednesday.

A speeding bus collided with a tractor-trolley in the Kailaras police station area of Morena, leaving two dead and eight others seriously injured.

The accident occurred near Sant Nagar on the national highway as several people were returning home on a tractor on Wednesday.

A passenger bus coming from Sabalgarh town rammed into a tractor, causing chaos on the road. Passers-by promptly informed the police and helped rescue the passengers. Fortunately, all bus passengers emerged unscathed.

The injured individuals were taken to the government-run Kailaras hospital.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab President and Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, along with his family, took a holy dip at the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj on Wednesday and performed prayers to Ganga.

Aman Arora was accompanied by Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Sangrur MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who also took a dip at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers.

Speaking to the media after the holy bath, Aman Arora said, “I felt immense joy after taking a dip at Mahakumbh. It is a matter of great fortune for us as such a Mahakumbh will not come again in our lifetime.”

This time’s Mahakumbh is a rare occurrence, happening after 144 years, as Mahakumbh takes place after 12 Kumbhs, and a Kumbh occurs once every 12 years. Arora said, “I am elated to receive the blessings of Mother Ganga. I prayed to Mother Ganga for the peace, progress, and happiness of the people of the nation and Punjab.”

Another body of a labourer trapped inside the coal mine in Assam’s Umrangso was recovered on Wednesday, said Minister Kaushik Rai.

Rai told reporters that the body of another labourer was taken out from the coal mine on Wednesday by the rescue force.

“There were nine labourers trapped inside the mine. Earlier, the bodies of four labourers were rescued by the Army team and disaster response forces,” the minister said.

A total of nine labourers have been trapped while five have been rescued so far after they got trapped inside the mine in Umrangso locality in Assam’s Dima Hasao district in January.

In yet another incident of health workers being attacked in Pakistan, unknown gunmen killed a police officer while he was providing security to the polio vaccination team in Damadola, Mamund, Bajaur district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

As per Bajaur police officials, gunmen on motorbikes attacked the polio vaccination team which was engaged in a door-to-door vaccination campaign to give polio drops to children. The police official deployed to guard the polio team was shot dead by the attackers who later fled the scene. Police officials confirmed that the policeman died on the spot.

Bajaur district, a restive region bordering Afghanistan, has been one of the strongholds of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and a battlefield between the militant groups and the Pakistani security forces. The area has been known for being sensitive, critical and unwelcoming towards polio eradication campaigns with polio workers, security forces and their supporters being regularly targetted and killed by militants.

The Haryana government on Wednesday clarified the allegations by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda about the loss of Rs 5,000 crore in illegal mining, saying that there is no mention of loss due in the CAG report.

Quoting the recent CAG report, Congress leader Hooda claimed that the total loss due to illegal mining was Rs 50,000 crore during the 10-year stint of the BJP government.

A spokesman for the Mines and Geology Department said that upon verification of the fact it was found that the report in question pertains to 2019 and there is no mention of a loss of Rs 5,000 crore due to illegal mining.

“The report has already been discussed in December 2022 in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). While there were some findings based on the geospatial survey of sand and gravel mines, no specific loss of Rs 5,000 crore due to illegal mining or scam was identified by the CAG as alleged by Hooda,” he said.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Wednesday slammed the traditional political leaders especially Sukhbir Badal and Sunil Jakhar for posing while enjoying weddings, receptions and feasts whereas food growers of the state are undergoing fast to get their demands met.

The Chief Minister said that this clearly reflects the insensitivity and insincerity of this 'elite' political class that has ruled the state for decades. He said that these political leaders have always hobnobbed with each other to secure their interests while ignoring the matters of the state and its people. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that these leaders spit venom against each other from their respective stages but embrace each other in such private functions which expose their dubious face.

The Chief Minister quipped that these leaders will justify their move by saying that this is their social obligation but they forget that due to their venomous speeches the social fabric of the state is disturbed adding that these leaders divide the people for their vested political interests but shamefully are hand in glove with each other. He said that these political leaders befool the people as in villages of state people fight with each other on the name of political parties but these leaders attend the marriages and functions of each other and embrace them which is surprising. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that such people should be taught a lesson and people should always elect the government of the common man.