India has sharply criticised a forthcoming World Health Organization study which reportedly claims coronavirus killed four million people nationally, the latest analysis suggesting a significant undercount of the pandemic's death toll.
The New York Times reported last week that New Delhi had stalled the study's release after disputing that India's true fatality count was eight times higher than official figures.
The conclusion matches similar figures by the Lancet last month and a February study in the journal Science that calculated a Covid death toll of at least 3.2 million.
But India's health ministry said in a weekend statement that the WHO's mathematical modelling of the pandemic was "questionable" and "statistically unproven".
Several concerns were raised to the global health body over the report, including what the ministry said was a "peculiar" assumption of a relationship between lower temperatures and monthly deaths.
India had shared its misgivings through several formal communications and meetings since last November, according to the ministry.
"A satisfactory response is yet to be received from WHO," it added.
The WHO was not immediately available for comment.
Indian officials have previously disputed the methodology behind the Lancet and Science studies that also found vastly higher death tolls.
Its official figures show 520,000 Covid deaths nationally, which still accounts for the world's largest single-country toll after the United States and Brazil.
India was battered by a devastating Covid outbreak last year that saw thousands of people dying each day at its peak, overwhelming hospitals and crematoriums.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)