UN Radio: WHO Issues SARS Warning To Three More Regions in China
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The World Health Organization today added three more regions of China to its travel advisory because of the outbreak of
the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS. The health agency is advising people to postpone non-essential travel to
Taiwan and the provinces of Inner Mongolia and Tianjin. WHO's The Executive Director of Communicable Diseases, Dr. David
Heymann says that China is still reporting increase in the cases of SARS:
"So we are seeing that gradually the disease is being identified in many many more areas of China and as it is
identified we find that the epidemic is strongly implanted or the outbreak is strongly implanted there."
WHO estimates that 15 per of the people to catch the SARS virus die of it.
US Expected To Present Draft Resolution on Ira
qThe Secretary of State of the United States, Colin Powell, has said that a new resolution to lift sanctions against
Iraq will be presented to the Security Council this week. He met with the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on
Wednesday. Mr. Powell said the resolution will give the Secretary and the United Nations a vital role to play:
"You can be sure that it is a resolution that does not fight the battles of the past. It is forward looking, a
resolution that will unite the international community and help the people of Iraq to a better life and to build a new
government."
The Security Council was briefed today by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette on the humanitarian situation in
Iraq.
WFP Prepares To Deliver Over One million Tonnes of Food to Ira
qThe World Food Programme, WFP, has said it is gearing up to deliver over one million tonnes of food to Iraq over the
next five months. The food will be enough to feed the entire population of some 27 million people. It is estimated that
sixty percent of Iraqis are entirely dependent on monthly food handouts. WFP has already transported more than 100,000
tonnes of food into Iraq using corridors from Turkey, Syria, Iran, Jordan and Kuwait.
Meanwhile, staff from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the UN Development Programme were able to return to
their Baghdad offices which have been severely damaged by looters. In the north, a UN team undertook a day trip to
Kirkuk from Erbil to assess the humanitarian situation there. There are now approximately 250 United Nations
international staff in Iraq..
Fighting Flares In Bunia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The security situation has deteriorated in the town of Bunia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the Hema and
Lendu militias battle each other. The fighting follows the withdrawal of the Ugandan forces. An official of the UN
Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Bunia says there has looting and people have been killed and mutilated. Mohamoud
Hashi says the United Nations humanitarian partners and non-governmental organizations are finding it difficult to
operate in the Ituri region:
"The insecurity in town, of course, which is where most of their offices are located prevents them from functioning
properly. So as long as that situation persists it will be difficult to provide humanitarian assistance."
The United Nations is sending more peacekeepers to the town.
Close to 250,000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots Have Cross
Close to 250,000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots have crossed the buffer zone that separates the two communities since the
crossing points were first opened last month. The UN Peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, UNFICYP, says it has been an
extremely exciting time because for the first time in over 20 years people have been able to visit the other side.
UNFICYP's Civil Affairs Political Officer, Madeline Garlic, says there was congestion at the beginning but now the
situation has eased:
"The weather has become very hot recently which hasn't helped. The UN has been providing shade as well as drinking water
and medical care to people waiting to ensure that they are not too badly affected."