Three weeks after heavy monsoon flodds first hit the country, tens of thousands of people in southern Pakistan are fleeing a threatened flood-surge. In the city of Shahdadkot, a hastily built barrier has been breached, allowing floodwaters to approach.
An estimated 4 million people have now been displaced in the city of Sukkar alone.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization says diseases are spreading in affected areas.
AsiaLink partners were among the first in the affected areas. They commented, “After being picked up at Islamabad airport early this morning, I was taken directly to Peshawar where our mini-truck was loaded with around 2,000 hot meals in plastic bags. We then drove on to Nowshera to distribute them. It was turmoil: everyone was fighting to get hold of some food. There were no police on hand and the army is currently busy airdropping supplies to people cut off by the flood waters.
Those affected all say the same: We have lost everything; house, furnishings, our livelihoods – often family members too. There is mud everywhere on the streets and in the houses. Everywhere there is a stench of decay.”
The North Korean Workers Party is to hold its first delegates conference in more than 44 years. We are not quite sure when but it is thought to be scheduled for the next few days. With huge armoured divisions closing massing around the capital Pyong Yang it is believed that the usual large public military parades will accompany the event.
What makes this particular gathering interesting is that analysts are expecting preparations for a transition of power - possibly away from Kim Jong Il to one of his sons, Kim Jung Un. It will be only the second change in nation’s history.