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Islamabad, Aug 31 (IANS) Health experts in Pakistan have sounded the alarm regarding the outbreak of disease in flood-affected areas, estimating around five million people to fall sick in the next four to 12 weeks.

People in the flooded areas of Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are likely to get diarrhoea, cholera, gastroenteritis, typhoid and vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria, The News quoted the experts as saying.

It is estimated that a disease outbreak would initially require medicines and medical supplies worth 1 billion PKR, they said, and urged donors, philanthropists and common people to donate these after consulting health experts and officials of rescue and welfare organisations.

Of the 33 million people affected due to monsoon rains and floods across Pakistan, it is estimated that around five million people, including children, would get sick due to outbreak of water-borne and vector-borne diseases in the next four to 12 weeks, The News reported.

"As there is no clean drinking water available in the flood-ravaged areas, there is a risk of outbreak of diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, gastroenteritis, dengue and malaria," renowned public health expert and Vice-Chancellor of the Health Services Academy (HSA) Islamabad, Shahzad Ali told The News.

He said children would be more vulnerable due to weak immunity and warned that an outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea, and other water-borne diseases could kill hundreds of children and adults if immediate preventive measures were not adopted.

"There is an urgent need to vaccinate all the people in the flood affected areas against typhoid-cholera. This vaccine is available in the country and it can be deployed to prevent deaths from typhoid and cholera in Sindh and Balochistan. Similarly, prophylactic treatment of malaria should also be started to prevent deaths from the vector-borne disease," Khan said.

On the other hand, officials of the welfare organisations working in the flood-hit areas said a large number of people, including women and children, had already started suffering from water-borne infections, including diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, cholera, fever, flu, allergy, scabies and other fungal skin ailments.

"We also believe that around Rs1 billion would be required initially to meet the medical needs of sick people in the flood-hit areas as hundreds of people are getting sick due to water-borne and vector-borne diseases in these areas," said Sufyan Ahmed, Managing Director of the Al-Khidmat Health Foundation, who is coordinating with the charity and welfare organisations for relief operations in the flood-hit areas.

--IANS
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London, Aug 31 (IANS) Workers of the UK's Royal Mail on Wednesday walked out on a strike again in a bitter dispute over pay, with further industrial action planned.

Members of the Communication Workers Union mounted picket lines outside Royal Mail offices across the country, reports dpa news agency.

The Union said more than 100,000 workers are involved, making it the biggest strike of the summer.

The action follows a walkout last week and there will be further stoppages on September 8-9.

The action is in protest at a 2 per cent pay rise, although the company has said more money is on offer.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: "There can be no doubt that postal workers are completely united in their determination to secure the dignified, proper pay rise they deserve.

"We can't keep on living in a country where bosses rake in billions in profit while their employees are forced to use food banks.

"Postal workers won't meekly accept their living standards being hammered by greedy business leaders who are completely out of touch with modern Britain.

"They are sick of corporate failure getting rewarded again and again."

CWU deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger said: "Our members worked miracles during the pandemic and know full well what they are worth.

"They are fighting for a no-strings, real-terms pay rise - something they are fully entitled to.

"Those managing Royal Mail Group are treating our members with contempt by imposing such a minimal amount."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "The CWU's self-centred actions with the wider trade union movement is putting jobs at risk, and making pay rises less affordable."

--IANS
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San Francisco, Aug 31 (IANS) Truth Social, the social media platform launched by Donald Trump to counter Twitter, is yet to get approval from Google Play Store and the former US President's company was working "in good faith with Google".

Google has notified Truth Social of "several violations of standard policies in their current app submission", reiterating that "having effective systems for moderating user-generated content is a condition of our terms of service for any app to go live on Google Play".

Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) said in a statement that it has "no desire to litigate its business matters in the public sphere, but for the record, has promptly responded to all inquiries from Google".

It said that the Truth Social Android app complies with Google's policies without compromising the promise to be "a haven for free speech".

"As our users know, Truth Social is building a vibrant, family-friendly environment that works expeditiously to remove content that violates its Terms of Service, which independent observers have noted are among the most robust in the industry," the company said.

It alleged that some of its competitors' apps are allowed in the Google Play Store despite "rampantly violating Google's prohibition on sexual content and other policies, whereas Truth Social has zero tolerance for sexually explicit content".

Truth Social was launched in the Apple App Store on February 21.

According to reports, Truth Social is strapped for cash and facing tech and legal troubles.

"The most immediate problem is the platform's stalled SPAC, initially planned as a way to publicly trade shares in the new company without the diligence of an IPO," reports The Verge.

An SEC filings show that the company has lost over $6 million in the first half of this year and hasn't generated any revenue.

--IANS
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Brasilia, Aug 31 (IANS) Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has maintained a lead in the polls ahead of the October general elections.

Lula, who represents the Workers' Party, holds 42.3 per cent of voter support, while incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro of the conservative Liberal Party has 34.1 per cent, according to the latest poll released by the MDA Survey Institute and commissioned by the National Transport Confederation.

Both candidates have gained support since the previous survey released in May when Lula garnered 40.6 per cent and Bolsonaro, 32 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Lula is leading among those who earn up to twice the minimum wage, with up to a ninth-grade education, Catholics and in the northeast region," the poll said.

"Bolsonaro, on the other hand, is preferred by those earning more than twice the minimum wage, with a middle or higher education, evangelicals, and in the south and central-west regions," it added.

Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party was in third place with 7.3 per cent, followed by Simone Tebet of the Brazilian Democratic Movement with 2.1 per cent.

The survey queried 2,002 people from August 25 to 28, with an accuracy rate of 95 per cent.

Brazil will vote on October 2 to elect a new president, vice president, governors, deputies and senators.

If no candidate emerges as a clear winner, a runoff will take place on October 30.

--IANS
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Kiev, Aug 31 (IANS) Ukraine received $4.6 billion in international aid in August, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.

Ukraine is expected to get $1.5 billion in grant aid from the US in September, and macro-financial assistance from the European Union in September or early October, Xinhua news agency quoted Marchenko as saying.

On June 24, the European Commission announced plans to issue up to 9 billion euros in loans to support Ukraine under a new exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance program.

In August, Ukraine received 1 billion euros of the aid package in two tranches.

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war on February 24, Ukraine has received $17 billion in aid from its partners, according to the Finance Ministry.

--IANS
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Islamabad, Aug 31 (IANS) The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has painted a bleak picture of women affected by the unprecedented floods in Pakistan as it said that at least 650,000 pregnant women, of whom 73,000 are expected to deliver next month, in the flood-affected areas are in dire need of maternal health service.

The UN agency also warned that many women and girls were at an incre­a­­sed risk of gender-based violence (GBV) as almost one million hou­ses were dama­g­­ed in the catastrophic floods that spelled suff­ering for millions across Pakistan, Dawn reported.

"Up to 73,000 women expected to deliver next month will need skilled birth attendants, newborn care, and support," the UNFPA said.

It added that pregnancies and childbirth cannot wait for emergencies or natural disasters to be over as this is when a woman and baby are vulnerable and need the most care, Dawn reported.

"UNFPA is on the ground, working with partners, to ensure that pregnant women and new mothers continue re­­ceiving life-saving services even under the most challenging conditions," ac­­ting UNFPA Pakistan Repre­sen­tative Bakhtior Kadirov said.

According to the UN agency, over 1,000 health facilities were either partially or fully damaged in Sindh, whereas 198 health facilities were damaged in the affected districts in Balochistan.

The damage to roads and bridges also compromised girls' and women's access to health facilities, it added.

--IANS
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Moscow, Aug 31 (IANS) World leaders were quick to pay rich tributes to the late Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as the man who ended the Cold War and the arms race, as a statesman who stood at the pivotal turning point in world history.

He died on Tuesday due to a long illness at a hospital on Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his "deep sympathies" over Gorbachev's death, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

Peskov said Putin, a former KGB agent who had an ambiguous relationship with Gorbachev, will send a telegram of condolences to the late leader's family and friends on Wednesday morning.

UN chief Antonio Guterres praised Gorbachev as "a one-of-a-kind statesman who changed the course of history" and "did more than any other individual to bring about the peaceful end of the Cold War".

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed Gorbachev as a "trusted and respected leader" who "opened the way for a free Europe".

His "crucial role" in bringing down the Iron Curtain, which symbolised the division of the world into communist and capitalist blocs, and ending the Cold War left a legacy "we will not forget", she wrote on Twitter.

French President Emmanuel Macron described Gorbachev as a "man of peace" on Twitter early Wednesday, saying he "opened a path of liberty for Russians. His commitment to peace in Europe changed our shared history".

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he "always admired the courage and integrity" Gorbachev showed to bring the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion.

"In a time of Putin's aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all," he said in a Twitter post, referring to Moscow's ongoing offensive in its former Soviet neighbour.

US President Joe Biden praised the former Soviet leader as a "man of remarkable vision."

Gorbachev had worked to bring about democratic reforms in the Soviet Union after decades of brutal political repression, Biden said in a White House statement issued late on Tuesday.

"These were the acts of a rare leader, one with the imagination to see that a different future was possible and the courage to risk his entire career to achieve it. The result was a safer world and greater freedom for millions of people," he said.

--IANS
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Seoul, Aug 31 (IANS) South Korea will lift its current pre-travel Covid-19 test requirement for inbound travellers later this week, as the government believes the recent virus wave has passed its peak and the spread of omicron could slow down, an official said Wednesday.

The new rule that will take effect Saturday came after a state infectious disease advisory committee recommended the government lift the mandatory pre-travel polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for inbound travellers, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"All inbound travellers, whether our nationals or foreigners, arriving aboard a plane or ship will not need to hand in a negative PCR test starting midnight of September 3," Second Vice Health Minister Lee Ki-il said in a virus response meeting.

The new measure will be applied to all arrivals, regardless of their vaccination status or the country of departure.

Currently, inbound travellers are required to show a negative result within 48 hours of their PCR tests or within 24 hours of their rapid antigen tests to enter the country.

Critics and the travel industry have called for the requirements to be scrapped, citing low efficiency of the tests that often lack accuracy and cost burdens for individual travellers.

They also cited other countries that have removed the test mandate.

"The virus has been slowing in other countries and we have also confirmed a decline in nine weeks," Peck Kyong-ran, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), said.

"The decision is aligned with the global trend of discontinuing the negative PCR test submission, although we will quickly toughen the entry procedure in the event of another variant outbreak," Peck said.

Travellers still need to take a PCR test within the first 24 hours of their arrival in South Korea, a "minimum measure" put in place to prevent the inflow and spread of any variant from overseas.

Rapid antigen tests will not be accepted.

On Wednesday, South Korea reported 103,961 new Covid cases, including 458 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 23,246,398, the KDCA said.

The country added 75 Covid-19 fatalities, putting the death toll at 26,764.

--IANS
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Kiev, Aug 31 (IANS) Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) left Kiev on Wednesday for the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in the Russian-occupied region of southern Ukraine.

"We will be spending a few days there," IAEA chief and head of mission Rafael Grossi announced before leaving Kiev.

Grossi said he and 13 experts were there to stabilize the situation as much as they could, reports dpa news agency.

The IAEA chief hopes to hold talks with the power plant's Ukrainian staff during the visit.

Grossi stressed that his team had received all the necessary safe passage guarantees for the long journey to the war zone, some 450 km from Kiev.

"We are going into occupied territory and this requires the explicit guarantees, not only from the Russian side, but also from the Republic of Ukraine," he stressed before setting off in a convoy of 10 white SUVs with UN markings.

The IAEA team was received by President Volodymyr Zelensky upon their arrival in Kiev on Tuesday.

He called the arrival of the mission one of the most important security issues for Ukraine and the world today.

Zelensky called for the demilitarization of the Russian-occupied nuclear power plant, saying a zone should be created around the plant.

He also called for the transfer of the nuclear power plant back to Ukrainian state control as the only way to rule out all nuclear risks.

The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe.

It has a net output of 9,500 megawatts and boasted over 10,000 employees before the war began.

The plant was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began at the end of February.

In recent weeks, the power plant has come under frequent fire, for which Kiev and Moscow blame each other, triggering international concern about a possible nuclear catastrophe.

--IANS
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Paris, Aug 31 (IANS) France witnessed the second hottest summer since 1900, according to the country's meteorological service.

Meteorologists from Meteo-France said on Thursday that the months of June, July and August of this year, the national average temperature will probably be 2.3 degrees Celsius above the reference value, dpa news agency reported.

This was the second hottest summer in the country since 1900, after an even hotter summer in 2003.

According to Meteo-France, the country had suffered from three heatwaves in the past three months which it described as particularly intense and long.

Overall, these heatwaves would have lasted 33 days, a record.

Temperature records were also broken in various places in the country.

According to the data, there was significantly less rain in France this summer.

The national average was around 20 per cent below the average for the years 1991 to 2020.

Due to climate change, there are more hot days.

According to the weather service, France has been struggling with more and stronger heatwaves for the last few decades.

Drought will also be exacerbated by climate change as hot temperatures lead to evaporation.

The weather experts warned in their statement that a summer like this one could become normal in France after 2050 if high emissions continue.

--IANS
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