Pakistan Hit by Major Earthquakes

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At least 15 people killed after second quake in region where 515 people died on Tuesday

At least 15 people were killed when a major earthquake hit Pakistan's south-west on Saturday, days after another quake in the same region killed 515 people. The US Geological Survey said on its website that a 6.8 magnitude quake was felt in Pakistan's south-western Baluchistan province.

The Pakistani Meteorological Department measured the earthquake at 7.2 magnitude. The department said its epicentre was located about 90 miles (145km) west of the town of Khuzdar.  There were no immediate reports of casualties, said Abdur Rasheed, the deputy commissioner of Awaran district, where both quakes occurred.

Since then tens of thousands of people have been sleeping under the open sky or tents. Rasheed said they had received reports that some homes that were damaged but still standing after Tuesday's quake had collapsed on Saturday.

He said they are trying to get information whether people were living in some of the partially damaged homes.  "Today's earthquake damaged the already damaged buildings and homes," he said.  There may have been little left to damage after Tuesday's disaster. Few of the mud and homemade brick houses in the area survived the 7.7 magnitude quake that levelled houses and buried people in the rubble across the district of Awaran.  Bodies are still being discovered in houses whose mud walls and wooden roof beams had collapsed.

"My daughter was killed when my house collapsed - I was also inside my house but managed to run out," said 70-year-old Gul Jan told Reuters. "We are sitting under the scorching sun and need shelter."

In Labash village near Awaran, more than half of the 3,000 houses have collapsed and those still standing have wide cracks.  "Everywhere we go people are asking for tents," legislator Abdul Qadeer Baloch said.

Chief Pakistani meteorologist Arif Mahmood told Pakistani television that it was an aftershock from this week's earthquake and such tremors might continue for weeks to come. The aftershock struck about 18 miles to the south-southwest of where Tuesday's earthquake struck, according to the US Geological Survey.

Twin Blasts over 33 Killed in Peshawar, Pakistan

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Twin blasts in the Northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar have killed over 33 people and injured more than 70, a week after bombings at a church there killed scores.  Islamist violence has been on the rise in Pakistan in recent months, undermining Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's efforts to tame the insurgency by launching peace talks with the Taliban.  The blasts outside a police station hit an area known as Quiswakhani, or the storytellers' bazaar, crowded with shoppers. Police said they thought at least one of the explosions in the city close to the Afghan border had been caused by a car bomb.  There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid condemned the attack.  Two policemen tried to hold back the crowd gathered outside the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, where many of the victims had been taken. Nine members of one family were among the dead.

The blasts follow an attack by a Taliban faction on Peshawar's Anglican church last Sunday that killed more than 80 people, the deadliest assault on Christians in predominantly Muslim Pakistan.  The Taliban have repeatedly rejected Pakistan's constitution and have called for the full implementation of Islamic law and for war with India.

Mr Sharif was due to meet Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly later today, only hours after Singh described Pakistan as the "epicentre of terrorism in our region".

Dockyard Road Building Collapse: 21 Rescued, 9 Dead, 22 Injured as rescue operations are still on

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A 5-Storey building (ground+4) near Dockyard Road railway station collapsed around 6 am on Friday morning. The building, which was built in 1980, had its ground floor leased to a decorator.  As Mumbai faced showers on Friday afternoon, the rescue work at the site where a five-story building had collapsed, has been hampered.

Though the debris are still being moved, the speed of the effort has been affected.

40 people are still believed to trapped in the building. This could include a reporter of a leading Marathi daily who also stayed in the building.

The death toll in the Mumbai building collapse has now reached five, with four deaths reported from JJ hospital and one from Nair hospital.

A 5-storey building (ground+4) near Dockyard Road railway station collapsed around 6 am on Friday morning. The building, which was built in 1980, had its ground floor leased to a decorator.

Reports suggest that the building, which was on the eastern side of the railway station, was sent a notice for being in a dilapidated condition.  It was a BMC colony, with most, if not all, occupants being BMC employees and their families.

Iran Takes Charm Offensive to UN, Agrees to Nuclear Talks

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New York: Iran's New Government took its diplomatic charm offensive to the United Nations on Monday and agreed to new talks on its nuclear program with top diplomats from six world powers, including US Secretary of State John Kerry.

The meeting bringing the top US diplomat and new Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif around the same conference table will be highly unusual given the United States has not maintained diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980.   The announcement of the talks planned for this week during the UN General Assembly in New York, raised hopes that the annual summit of world leaders could bring a thaw in relations between arch-enemies Iran and the United States.   US officials have also said a meeting is possible this week between President Barack Obama and Iran's new centrist president, Hassan Rouhani, who has shown an apparent desire to take a more conciliatory approach towards the West since taking office last month.  If that meeting were to happen, it would be the first between US and Iranian government heads since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah, and could help ease tensions in the Middle East that have been worsening given the crisis in Syria.

Iran is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a US foe whose country has been torn by civil war since 2011.   UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited world leaders attending the General Assembly, including Rouhani and Obama, to attend an annual luncheon at the United Nations on Tuesday. That would be one possibility for the two men to meet briefly. Obama skipped last year's UN luncheon, but the White House said he would attend this year.

Obama and Rouhani will both address the assembly on Tuesday.   EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said after talks with Zarif that he would join her and his counterparts from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany at a meeting that has been scheduled for Thursday to discuss Iran's nuclear program, which is at the heart of tensions between Tehran and the West.

The West believes Iran has been trying to develop nuclear weapons and is determined to stop this, imposing tough economic sanctions. Iran says it is not trying to produce a bomb but has insisted on its right to enrich uranium for the purpose of peaceful energy production.   The EU, led by Ashton, has chaired the talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, as well as Germany - which have made little headway in spite of years of negotiations.

Ashton said the meeting in New York would be "short discussions," and added that she would represent the P5+1 in a meeting with Zarif in Geneva in October.   The last time a US secretary of state and an Iranian foreign minister spoke face-to-face appears to have been more than six years ago.  In May 2007, then-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made clear she was open to talking to her Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, at an international conference in Egypt, but the encounter amounted to pleasantries over ice cream.   State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington was ready to work with Rouhani if his government engaged seriously in efforts to resolve the nuclear issue.

A senior State Department official said Iran's meetings this week with European officials and ministers would show whether Iran was coming with concrete new proposals "and whether this charm offensive actually has substance." 

Protest Against the Kidnap, Strike Continues in Quetta, Pakistan

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QUETTA: The strike by young doctors is in progress against the kidnapping of doctors of government hospitals in the city; Pakistan Medical Association also threatened to begin complete strike at all government hospitals in the province.

It should be mentioned here that Heart Specialist Dr. Munaf Tareen was kidnapped three days ago near Pishin Stop. The abduction took place some days after Assistant Professor Dr. Muhammed Ahmed was recovered.

The PMA Balochistan threatened to call for complete strike in all government hospitals across Balochistan, as the provincial president of association Dr. Sultan Tareen asserted that government did not come into action where as the abductors were identified.

He noted the association informed the government that the kidnapped doctor was kept in Miranshah, adding the association’s representatives are doing their bit for the release; but, the administration did not do anything in this regard.

“We will go on strikes. We will come on roads,” the PMA Balochistan official warned.

Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch ordered the concerned authorities to make arrangements for the early recovery of Dr. Munaf and a report be produced to him in this case on daily basis.

Floods Affect Nearly One Million Across Pakistan

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Pakistani Disaster Management Officials say flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains has affected nearly one million people and taken the lives of 139 others across the country during the last three weeks.


The floods have washed away roads and bridges, and large parts of the country are still under water.

"The rains affected 931,074 people, killed at least 139 and wounded 804 others," a senior National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) official said on condition of anonymity.

He said that the rains had lashed 3,826 villages and destroyed 13,262 houses all over the country.

The official further noted that around 243 relief camps have been set up to help people, mostly in the central province of Punjab, the southern province of Sindh and the southwestern province of Balochistan.

The NDMA says 47 of the dead are from Punjab province. Sindh province is the next hardest hit with 34 people killed.

Many villagers are reluctant to move, and say they will stay in the flood-affected areas as long as they possibly can.

We don’t have enough tents. We have left everything behind. There isn’t enough food to go around. We need help, a woman at one of the relief camps near the city of Multan said.

The Pakistani government says it is doing all it can to help the flood survivors.

Monsoon season generally starts in the late summer in Pakistan and is marked by heavy rains that often lead to widespread flooding of rivers and streams.

Pakistan suffered its worst monsoon floods in 2010, when 21 million people were affected and almost 1,800 lives lost. 

Human Relief Foundation Launches Emergency Funding Appeal for Sudan

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Bradford-based international aid organisation Human Relief Foundation has called for emergency funding to support a quarter of a million people in desperate need after flooding in Sudan.

The organisation is currently providing food, water, shelter and blankets to some of the 250,000 people affected by heavy rain across the country.

But the charity, based at Claremont, has warned that recent reports indicate a rapid response is needed to help 50,000 families currently suffering as the situation continues to worsen.
According to reports, at least 53 people have been killed and 77 others injured across the country due to the recent spate of heavy rain and flooding, which has also destroyed thousands of homes since the beginning of August.  A total of 13 states have so far flooded, with more rain expected to fall over the coming weeks.

The World Health Organisation has issued reports calling for urgently- needed mobile health clinics, insect nets and clean water facilities to stop the spread of water borne diseases, and there is an urgent need to feed and shelter those who have been forced to leave their homes. More than 20,000 people are thought to be in extreme need, whilst the remaining 230,000 are in urgent need of assistance.
Dr Salah Daak, international programmes director for the Human Relief Foundation, said: The situation in Sudan is worsening. There are already a quarter of a million people in need of help and there are further rains anticipated.

Most at risk are elderly people, children and pregnant women. There is severe concern over the threat of illness, thirst and starvation. We urgently need the international community to respond and help us as much as they can.

The Foundation said £5 would provide a family in Sudan with clean water for a week and relieve the need for them to drink dirty and potentially deadly floodwater.

The charity has permanent offices in Khartoum, where it works with the World Health Organisation to run health clinics benefiting more than 130,000 poorly people every year. Last year these clinics vaccinated more than 14,000 children in Sudan against polio, tuberculosis, tetanus toxoid, diphtheria and rotavirus as part of one of the biggest immunisation efforts in the country.

The Human Relief Foundation , which was founded in 1991 in response to the war in Iraq, has international offices strategically placed to respond to emergency situations and works with the World Health Organisation, United Nations Development Programme and European Union to help those affected by disasters.

First Human Case of West Nile This Season

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A Stratford resident who became ill in July is the first human case of West Nile virus this season.

The resident is between 60 and 69 years of age and became ill during the last week of July after being bitten by mosquitoes, according to the state Department of Health.

The person was not hospitalized and is recovering, according to health department officials.
Symptoms of the illness included joint and muscle pain and diarrhea and lab tests confirmed the presence of antibodies to the virus.

"If you’re planning to spend time outdoors this Labor Day weekend, it’s very important that you take steps to protect yourself from mosquito bites,” Department of Public Health veterinarian, Dr. Randall Nelson, said in a statement. “Using insect repellant, covering bare skin and avoiding being outdoors during the hours of dusk and dawn are effective ways to help keep you from being bitten.”

Since June 27, the state has identified West Nile virus positive mosquitoes at trap sites in 16 towns Branford, Bridgeport, East Haven, Fairfield, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Groton, Manchester, New Haven, Norwalk, Plainfield, Stamford, Stratford, Wallingford, Waterford and Westport.

The highest numbers have been found in coastal towns from Greenwich to Branford and in central Connecticut in Glastonbury, state officials said.

Dr. Theodore G. Andreadis, Chief Medical Entomologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, warned that the presence of West Nile virus could continue through September and expand to more communities.

In addition to West Nile virus, mosquitoes with eastern equine encephalitis virus have been identified in the Pachaug State Forest in Voluntown prompting the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to close part of the forest to recreational activities and two camp grounds there. 

Health Officials Go Door-To-Door Warning, Testing For Dengue Fever

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MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. -- State health officials go door-to-door in Martin County to test and warn residents about dengue fever.  They knocked on Elizabeth Pride’s door Friday afternoon.  They’re just trying to see if it’s being spread, she said.  The Florida Department of Health in Martin County is taking the fight against Dengue Fever to the streets. They’re planning on knocking on 700 doors in the Rio and Jensen Beach neighborhoods.

This survey is going to help us give us a good handle as to what’s going on in this community, Renay Rouse with the Florida Department of Health in Martin County said.

The door to door effort is providing prevention information, a risk assessment survey, and with consent from residents, they’re even taking blood samples.

To date, there are 18 confirmed cases of dengue fever in Martin County.

Health officials are planning on knocking on doors in the neighborhoods through next week. They’re also encouraging people to drain standing water and cover your skin with either clothing with repellent.

Damages Claimed for Flood Victims

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KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan Relief Foundation (PRF) Haleem Adil Sheikh on Friday said that 0.5 million people have been affected by floods in Sindh, but the provincial authorities have failed to provide sufficient relief to them.

Chairman PRF said the government should announce damages for rain and flood affected people of province.

He demanded of the government to dispatch medial teams in flood-affected areas and conduct fumigation in affected areas in order to save people from waterborne diseases.

He expressed these views while addressing a press conference at Karachi Press Club. The office-bearers of PRF were also present on this occasion.

Adil said 47 people lost their lives and approximately 32,000 houses were damaged in recent floods in the province, but provincial government has only distributed 10,000 tents and 1,500 ration bags to flood victims.

He said rains forecast for September by metrological department could bring further destruction in province if appropriate efforts are not taken.

Adil said repeated yearly floods have badly affected the people of province economically.

He said around 335 Goths were affected owing to rainwater that entered the area of Gadap Town in Karachi.