World

Washington, Sep 22 (IANS) Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has declared a public health emergency for Puerto Rico due to the severe flooding caused by hurricane Fiona which made landfall in the American territory earlier this week.

Under the declaration issued on Wednesday, the HHS haas deployed a 15-person health and medical task force from its National Disaster Medical System and a 10-person incident management team to Puerto Rico.

"The declaration follows President Biden Biden's disaster declaration and gives the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) beneficiaries and their health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs," the Department said in a statement.

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Becerra said: "We will do all we can to assist officials with responding to the impacts of Hurricane Fiona and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support."

"We are working closely with territory health authorities and our federal partners and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support."

Hurricane Fiona made landfall on Puerto Rico on Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane, bringing heavy rain, catastrophic damage, and an island-wide blackout.

Localised flash and urban flooding due to swells continue to affect the island, which has over 3 million residents.

More than 1 million customers in Puerto Rico were still without power as of Wednesday evening, according to poweroutage.us.

Fiona, which has strengthened into a Category 4 storm, is approaching Bermuda, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

--IANS
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By Arul Louis
United Nations, Sep 22 (IANS) Newly-elected British Prime Minister Liz Truss said that to build economic strength and resilience, her country is deepening relations and growing security ties with fellow democracies like India.


Making her debut on the world stage on Wednesday at the high-level meeting of the General Assembly, she said: "The free world needs this economic strength and resilience to push back against authoritarian aggression and win this new era of strategic competition."

For this, Truss said: "We are deepening our links with fellow democracies like India, Israel, Indonesia and South Africa... We are building new security ties with our friends in the Indo-Pacific and the Gulf."

The Prime Minister brought the stark message of a confrontation between democracy and autocracy over the future of the world.

"There is a real struggle going on between different forms of society - between democracies and autocracies. But we cannot simply assume there will be a democratic future.

"Unless democratic societies deliver on the economy and security our citizens expect, we will fall behind," she added.

For this, Truss said, democracies like Britain have to build their economies and not "be strategically dependent on those who seek to weaponise the global economy", a reference to Russia, whose ongoing invasion of Ukraine and its fallout have hit many countries hard.

To be economically and strategically resilient, democracies must band together, she said.

And alluding to the predatory nature of China's economic programmes abroad, the Prime Minister said: "Rather than exerting influence through debt, aggression, and taking control of critical infrastructure and minerals, we are building strategic ties based on mutual benefit and trust."

(Arul Louis can be contacted at aru.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

--IANS
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Washington, Sep 22 (IANS) The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol announced that it will hold a new hearing on September 28 as the panel is entering its final stages of its more than year-long probe into the insurrection.

The committee's Chair, Bennie Thompson told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday that the panel has "substantial footage of what occurred ... (and) significant witness testimony that we haven't used in other hearings".

Without providing too many details, Thompson added that he will chair next week's hearing but, unlike the earlier ones, "every member of the committee will have a role".

He added that this hearing will be the panel's last.

Investigators held eight public hearings in June and July as part of the inquiry, which former President Donald Trump, a Republican, has denounced as a political "witch hunt" launched by Democrats, reports Xinhua news agency.

On January 6 last year, thousands of individuals -- mostly Trump's supporters -- stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and disrupted a joint session of Congress to affirm the 2020 presidential election results.

Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted.

Authorities have linked at least five deaths to the mayhem.

It was the worst attack on the US Congress in more than 200 years and led to Trump's second impeachment by the House of Representatives shortly before his term officially ended.

--IANS
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Ottawa, Sep 22 (IANS) Canada has confirmed 1,379 cases of monkeypox, including 38 hospitalisations, the Public Health Agency of Canada said.

Of the confirmed cases, 667 are from Ontario, 515 from Quebec, 150 from British Columbia, 39 from Alberta, three from Saskatchewan, two from the Yukon and one each from Nova Scotia, Manitoba and New Brunswick, the health agency was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The provinces are waiting for the National Advisory Committee on Immunization to provide guidance on if and how to start a second-dose strategy which is expected in the coming weeks.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that can spread from person to person through close contact with an infected person, including through hugs, kisses, massages or sexual intercourse, according to experts.

--IANS
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By Arul Louis
United Nations, Sep 22 (IANS) While thanking New Delhi for its humanitarian assistance, Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal asked India to "join forces" to stop Russia's invasion when he met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday.


"I emphasised the need to join forces to stop Russia's war against Ukraine" and "thanked India Government and people for humanitarian aid", Shmyhal tweeted after their meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly high-level meeting.

Their meeting took place on the eve of a Security Council meeting on Ukraine at which Jaishankar is expected to participate.

Tweeting about their meeting, Jaishankar said he thanked the Ukraine leader "for sharing his perspectives and assessment of the ongoing conflict".

"Discussed their consequences, including for food security, energy security and safety of nuclear facilities," he added.

Shmyhal also tweeted that he counted on India's support for the Black Sea corridor for exporting foodgrains from his country and for demilitarising the area around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station (ZNPP).

Europe's largest nuclear is under Russia's occupation and there has been shelling around it putting it at risk.

While India has remained neutral on Russia's invasion abstaining from votes at the Council and the Assembly condemning Moscow, it has provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and recently voted with the West on a procedural vote to invite Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak remotely to the Council despite Russia's opposition.

In what is probably the sternest public stand on the invasion, Modi said last week during his meeting in Samarkand with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, "Today's era is not an era of war. We have discussed this with you on phone several times, that democracy, diplomacy and dialogue touch the entire world."

But it is to be seen if that would translate to a change in India's position and votes at the UN.

Zelensky is scheduled to address the Assembly Wednesday after remotely after he received special permission to speak

Jaishankar had an impromptu meeting with Dominican Republic's Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez when he ran into him at the UN headquarters.

"Good to run into my friend", Jaishankar tweeted, adding "Our new resident Embassy (in Santo Domingo) is a statement of our growing cooperation" with the Dominican Republic.

Jaishankar also attended an interactive discussion at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs that was organised by Aravind Panagariya, the Director of Deepak and Neera Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at the university and a former vice chair of the Niti Aayog.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at aru.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

--IANS
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Dhaka, Sep 21 (IANS) The number of dengue cases in Bangladesh has surpassed the 12,000 mark this year as 438 new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours, the biggest single-day spike since January, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Bangladesh has witnessed a significant spike in dengue cases this month, with 5,826 cases and 24 deaths registered, Xinhua news agency quoted the DGHS as saying.

In August, 3,521 more dengue cases were recorded after 1,571 people were infected with the mosquito-borne disease in July, according to official figures.

Dhaka and its neighbouring districts are the most vulnerable to the risk of mosquito-borne diseases, according to the DGHS, with 315 dengue cases reported in Dhaka in the last 24-hour period.

The fresh infection tally indicates the fast-rising trend of the mosquito-borne disease in the Bangladeshi capital city.

Authorities in Dhaka have recently strengthened mosquito eradication drives as dengue infections usually start rising in the country during the June-September period.

--IANS
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Saharanpur, Sep 21 (IANS) A 40-year-old school teacher and his student were found hanging from a noose in a forest in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, the police said on Wednesday.

The victims, who had been missing since September 3, were allegedly in a relationship.

Senior Superintendent of Police Vipin Tada said: "Virendra, the teacher, and the 17-year-old girl, a student of class nine, were found hanging in the forest late on Tuesday night."

The teacher, a resident of Rasulpur village, was having an affair with the girl who studied in the same school where he worked.

The girl's family had lodged a report of kidnapping and the police started searching for them but were unable to trace them because of their changing locations, he said.

The SSP said that late on Tuesday evening, a police team went to the forest on reports of foul smell emanating in the area and found the bodies in a very bad condition.

"It appears that the two had committed suicide about 10 days ago," he said.

A bike was also recovered from the area but no suicide note has been found.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

--IANS
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The Hague, Sep 21 (IANS) The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said that despite a fall in the number of Covid-19 cases across the continent, the pandemic is not over yet and countries should prepare for a new wave.

"Data have showed that over the last weeks there has been a decrease in the overall number of cases and deaths caused by Covid-19 in Europe," Marco Cavaleri, head of Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy of the EMA, told reporters here on Tuesday.

"However, as autumn approaches, we need to prepare for a new wave of infections," he said.

Cavaleri said that the same scenario occurred over the past two years, with a new wave coming up in autumn and that this trend is likely to return this year.

The top health official also emphasized the importance of looking out for new variants of the coronavirus.

"The Omicron BA.5 variant is still the dominant variant circulating in Europe. We still have to be alert on other variants. For instance, the BA.4.6 is quickly spreading in the US and has already been detected in Europe. Also, the BA.2.75 variant is of concern."

"What is clear to me and what should be very clear from Cavaleri's presentation is that we in Europe still consider the pandemic as ongoing," EMA Chief Medical Officer Steffen Thirstrup added.

The EMA's human medicines committee (CHMP) has recommended the authorization of adapted vaccines targeting the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 in addition to the original strain of Covid-19.

--IANS
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Chicago, Sep 21 (IANS) An estimated 65,611 people experienced homelessness in Chicago, the third largest city in the US, in 2020, an increase of 12.6 per cent from 2019, according to a report.

Of the total, more than 75 per cent temporarily stayed with others at one point, Xinhua news agency quoted the Chicago Tribune report as saying on Tuesday citing figures released by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

In the coalition's definition, homelessness covers children and families living doubled up or temporarily staying with others, in addition to those staying in a shelter or a place not meant for human habitation, the report said.

The report revealed that 49,585 people experienced homelessness by doubling up, making it the most common type of homelessness in Chicago.

While the number of people who experienced homelessness by living in shelters or on the streets decreased, the number of people doubling up increased by more than 20 per cent.

Chicago Public Schools reported serving 16,663 homeless students during the 2019-2020 school year.

The report further revealed that in 2020, homelessness disproportionately affected African-Americans, who made up 55.8 per cent of the total population experiencing homelessness, and 75.9 per cent of the population fitting definition of homelessness by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which excludes those living doubled up from its estimate.

The number of Hispanic or Latino people experiencing homelessness also increased significantly from 12,813 in 2019 to 18,272 in 2020, the report added.

--IANS
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Nicosia, Sep 21 (IANS) In two separate operations, at least 477 migrants were rescued off the coast of Cyprus in a span of just 24 hours, the country's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) said.

The JRCC said that in one operation, it responded to a distress call for an 18-meter boat with more than 300 people on board, which was drifting about 110 nautical miles off the west coast, reports Xinhua news agency.

A JRCC spokesman said on Tuesday that the call was received by the Centre's Larnaca headquarters at 7 p.m. on Monday. The boat was experiencing engine trouble.

After a helicopter spotted the boat, two navy ships and a nautical police patrol boat were dispatched to the area and at the same time, all ships sailing nearby were asked to help in the rescue operation.

"The weather in the region was bad, but fortunately a Russian-owned cargo vessel registered in the Marshal Islands was very close and responded to the call. It took aboard all the passengers from the boat in distress," the spokesman said.

He said that the captain of the cargo vessel was asked to take the migrants to the Cypriot port of Limassol, but he opted to follow his company's instructions and head to his original destination of Istanbul.

The JRCC spokesman said the second rescue operation was mounted in the early hours of Tuesday after a distress call, also citing engine trouble, was received from a boat that was drifting with 177 people on board about 30 nautical miles south of Larnaca.

The spokesman said that the two navy ships returning from the first rescue operation and a marine police vessel were diverted to the Larnaca area.

The rescue operation lasted well past midday.

The rescue boats docked at Larnaca late in the afternoon, where civil defence groups and medical staff cared for the exhausted migrants.

The migrants told the authorities that they had sailed from Lebanon and headed for Italy.

--IANS
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