World

Geneva, Sep 15 (IANS) The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that future coronavirus waves are expected and that governments across the world need to remain vigilant and ready to respond to any threat that may emerge.

"We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing in Geneva on Wednesday.

According to the WHO, during the week of September 5-11, the number of new weekly cases worldwide decreased by 28 per cent over the previous week to more than 3.1 million. The number of new weekly deaths was down 22 per cent to just under 11,000.

Tedros likened the pandemic response to a marathon race.

"Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap the rewards of all our hard work."

Nevertheless, the WHO's experts continue to urge caution, Xinhua news agency reported.

The virus is "circulating at a very intense level around the world at the present time. And, in fact, the number of cases that are being reported to the WHO we know are an underestimate," Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said.

"We feel there are far more cases that are actually circulating than are being reported to us," she added.

"We expect there to be future waves of infection, potentially at different time points throughout the world, caused by different subvariants of Omicron or even different variants of concern," she noted.

Those future waves of infection "do not need to translate into future waves of death, because we have tools that can prevent infections," she said.

Even as the pandemic wanes, people should maintain high levels of vigilance, said Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme.

The world is fighting "a highly mutable evolving virus that has shown us, time and time again in two-and-a-half years, how it can adapt and how it can change," Ryan added.

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Geneva, Sep 15 (IANS) Syrians are facing increasing suffering and hardship due to the deadly consequences of over a decade of war, the latest United Nations (UN) report warned.

The 50-page report, issued by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said on Wednesday that millions of people in Syria are suffering and dying in displacement camps, while resources are becoming scarcer and donor fatigue is rising.

"Syria cannot afford a return to larger-scale fighting, but that is where it may be heading," said Commission chair Paulo Pinheiro.

According to the report, which covers the period January 1 to June 30 of this year, there was continued fighting in the north of Syria.

The latest UN estimates show that between March 1, 2011, and March 31, 2021, the conflict in Syria claimed the lives of 306,887 civilians. This means that on average, 83 civilians have died in the conflict every single day for the last decade, Xinhua news agency reported.

The armed conflict in Syria broke out in 2011, and rapidly escalated into a full-scale war. In recent years, delegations from the Syrian government and its opposition have held several rounds of peace talks in Geneva, but solutions have yet to be found.

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Yangon, Sep 15 (IANS) At least 12 people were killed and many others injured in an accident involving three vehicles in Kyaukpadaung township of central Myanmar's Mandalay region, local police told Xinhua.

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. The incident took place on Wednesday evening, Xinhua news agency reported.

An investigation into the cause of the road accident is underway, according to the police.

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Islamabad, Sep 14 (IANS) Pakistan has rejected Bangladesh's offer to supply humanitarian aid worth 14 million takas (roughly $145,000) as the country continued to suffer great loss during monsoon flooding, according to local media.

On September 1, Bangladesh's Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief reportedly allocated funds for 10 tonnes of biscuits, 10 tonnes of dry cakes, 1,00,000 water purification tablets, 50,000 packets of oral saline, 5,000 mosquito nets, 2,000 blankets, and 2,000 tents to be sent to Pakistan.

However, it remains to be seen whether Islamabad would accept the friendly and humanitarian Bangladeshi gesture, Khaama Press reported.

According to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League government had always been generous towards humanity and that the authorities concerned had been directed to assist in the relief efforts in Pakistan.

"Pakistan Army is reportedly averse to the proposal of aid from Bangladesh as any such relief assistance may undermine Pakistan's global image," she said as per local media.

Pakistan fears that floods might have caused over $40 billion in economic losses and damages as the National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC) dismissed the initial assessment of $18 billion, Express Tribune reported.

The $40 billion losses were flagged in a flood response centre meeting during discussion on an interim report titled "An Early Assessment of Flood Impact on Pakistan's Economy", presented by the Ministry of Finance.

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Kabul, Sep 14 (IANS) Following Pakistans letter to Kabul seeking to locate, report and arrest Maulana Masood Azhar -- the head of banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed -- the Taliban government on Wednesday denied his presence in Afghanistan, media reports said.

On Tuesday, Pakistan wrote to Kabul asking it to arrest the JeM chief, a UN-desiganted terrorist most wanted in India, stating that he was hiding somewhere in the Taliban-led country, The News reported.

In the letter, Pakistan wrote that Azhar was possibly residing in two different Afghan provinces — Nangarhar and Kunar.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban, said that the banned outfit's chief is not in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan, The News reported.

Islamabad had formally banned JeM on terrorism charges on January 14, 2002, during General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf's rule in Pakistan.

After 17 years of ban on JeM, the Interior Ministry -- after receiving credible intelligence -- banned two more organisations named Al-Rehmat Trust, Bahawalpur, and Al-Furqan Trust, Karachi, on May 10, 2019.

Defunct JeM chief Azhar being a suspected terrorist also remained part of Schedule 4 of the Anti Terrorism Act 1999. He has allegedly planned multiple terrorist activities in different places, The News reported.

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New York, Sep 14 (IANS) The number of new cases of monkeypox in the US has slowly decreased in the recent weeks, with instances recorded in the first week of September being roughly half as high as they were at their peak one month ago, the media reports said.

But the recent death of a Los Angeles County resident was a tragic reminder that the outbreak is ongoing and still poses risks, reported CNN.

"There is some hope around these cases leveling off. That should not be anybody's solace that this outbreak is done," David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, was quoted as saying at a briefing.

"We still have to ramp up our efforts to respond to this outbreak. And there are many, many data questions, clinical care questions, research questions that remain to be answered about this very unusual outbreak of a known virus over the decades that is presenting itself very differently in the US," Harvey added.

This week, a media report said that the Los Angeles County authorities were looking into a second probable monkeypox-related death.

Chief Medical Director Rita Singhal of the county's Public Health Department had said details were unavailable at this early stage of the investigation.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a total of 52,997 people have been infected with the monkeypox virus.

Of the cases registered in the last four weeks, 70.7 per cent came from the US and 28.3 per cent from Europe.

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New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) An Air India Express flight B737 IX-442 MCT-COK (Muscat-Cochin) VT-AXZ witnessed smoke and fire in its engine number two at Muscat airport on Wednesday.

The plane was carrying 145 passengers, including four infants, the officials said, adding that all of them were safe and no injuries have been reported.

"A DGCA official said that during taxiing for takeoff, the engine number two experienced smoke and fire. Appropriate Checklist was completed after the incident. Slides were deployed and all passengers and Crew were evacuated on taxiway and all of them were safe and no injuries reported," said the official, adding that passengers have been transported to the terminal building.

As per local reports, there was scare among the passengers after the smoke was detected in the engine of the plane.

The official said that another relief flight will be organised for the passengers. The aircraft was currently parked on the taxiway and further probe was on.

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Shanghai, Sep 14 (IANS) Shanghai on Wednesday upgraded its typhoon emergency response to Level III, the third-highest, as Muifa, the 12th typhoon this year, moves closer.

The municipal flood control and typhoon and drought relief headquarters raised the response level at 7 a.m. Wednesday, according to the flood control office of Shanghai.

As of Wednesday morning, more than 1,900 ships had returned to port, and two tourist attractions and two parks had been temporarily closed, reports Xinhua news agency.

The city had also assigned personnel to inspect dikes, construction sites and other areas as Shanghai braced for the typhoon.

In China's Zhejiang province, the local flood control and typhoon and drought relief headquarters upgraded the emergency response to Level I, the highest level,on Tuesday afternoon.

A total of 11,680 fishing boats had returned to port in the province by Tuesday noon.

More than 719,800 people had been evacuated to safe places by Wednesday morning.

Muifa was observed over the ocean 185 km southeast of Xiangshan county in Zhejiang province at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

It is expected to move northwestward at a speed of 20 to 25 km per hour, China's National Meteorological Centre said in a statement.

The typhoon will make the first landfall in coastal areas between Sanmen county and Zhoushan, Zhejiang province around nightfall.

The second landfall is expected between the coastal areas of Jiaxing city in Zhejiang and Shanghai's Pudong district on Wednesday evening, according to the forecast.

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Mexico City, Sep 14 (IANS) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on regional countries to strengthen cooperation to identify undocumented migrants who died on their journey to the north.

"Every year thousands of people lose their lives on migratory routes as a result of accidents, violence or hostile terrain," the ICRC delegation for Mexico and Central America tweeted.

The organization said collaboration among origin, transit and destination countries is essential to recovering the remains of migrants, restore their identity and return them to families.

"This includes the exchange, management and analysis of information for identification," it added.

There are efforts to uncover the magnitude of the tragedy, and the already-known figures represent only a minimum number, the ICRC said.

Mexico and the US are transit and destination countries for a large number of migrants, many of whom disappear each year and die without being identified.

In June, 53 migrants were found dead inside an abandoned 18-wheeler in San Antonio, a major city in Texas, becoming one of the deadliest migrant-smuggling operations in recent US history.

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Washington, Sep 14 (IANS) The US has alleged that Russia covertly spent more than $300 million since 2014 to influence politicians in over 24 countries, the media reported on Wednesday.

The Department of State's allegation is based on a declassified intelligence assessment released on Tuesday, the BBC reported.

According to a senior official from President Joe Biden's administration, "this is just the tip of the iceberg".

American intelligence "assesses that these are minimum figures and that Russia likely has transferred additional funds covertly in cases that have gone undetected", the official said during a phone briefing.

The intelligence assessment released in a cable did not name specific countries or officials believed to have been targeted by Russia, but said they spanned four continents, reports the BBC.

The administration official said the intelligence community was now privately briefing select countries on the alleged Russian covert financing, adding that the briefings would remain confidential.

Fictitious companies were said to be used to fund European parties and to buy influence elsewhere.

The Russian authorities have so far made no public statements on the US claim.

Moscow has previously blamed America's CIA intelligence agency for interfering in other countries' affairs, including by backing various coups around the globe, BBC reported.

The US has meddled in foreign elections more than 80 times worldwide between 1946-2000, not including coups or attempts at regime change, according to a database kept by Carnegie Mellon University researcher Dov Levin.

On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price called Russia's alleged covert funding an "assault on sovereignty".

Last year, US intelligence officials assessed in a report that Russian President Vladimir Putin was likely to have authorised attempts to influence the 2020 election in favour of former President Donald Trump.

But it said no foreign government had compromised the final results.

Russia called the allegations "baseless".

--IANS
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