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Florida faces ‘matter of life and death’ as Hurricane Milton closes in

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Florida residents are rushing to finish emergency preparations – or just leave – as Hurricane Milton races toward landfall on the heavily-populated Tampa Bay.

Milton is currently a category five storm, packing ferocious winds of up to 165mph (270km/h). It is expected to hit with full force on Wednesday night, less than two weeks after the state was struck by the devastating Hurricane Helene.

President Joe Biden warned people in Florida on Tuesday to leave their homes as a “matter of life and death” while the state undertakes its largest evacuation effort in years.

“A category five, that is like a giant tornado coming at you,” one resident of the Gulf Coast city of Bradenton told the BBC from the hotel that he has evacuated to in Kissimmee.

“I wouldn’t want to be there,” said Gerald Lemus. “This will be a life-changing storm no matter where it hits.”

Mr Lemus, who has lived in Bradenton his entire life, said he has never evacuated for any previous storm. But he decided he has to for the safety of his eight-year-old daughter.

“I just looked at her and I couldn’t traumatise her to something like this,” he said on Tuesday night. “It’s a gamble we weren’t willing to make.”

ML Ferguson has been struggling to rebuild her home in Anna Maria, Florida, after it was severely damaged last month by Helene, a powerful category four hurricane when it hit.

“This one is going to be way worse than Helene,” she said on the phone while stalled in highway traffic out of the city.

“My car is totalled, we all were laid off of our job, and [my] belongings were ruined. After this storm hits, I will officially become homeless.”

Governor Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday that Florida had prepared dozens of shelters outside of evacuation zones to help house residents left stranded in the wake of the “monster” storm.

Long queues at petrol stations formed in south Florida, as some stations began running out of fuel.

Chynna Perkins told the BBC she is remaining in Tampa, where she lives in a newly constructed home outside the mandatory evacuation zones.

“I don’t think people really understand how much planning has to go into a decision like this,” she said, adding that she has two large Great Danes.

“There’s so much traffic and barely any gas available right now. People are running out of gas on the highway.”

DeSantis said that petrol was being trucked to stations, and electric vehicle charging stations also were deployed along roadways to ease the evacuation.

Tampa resident Steve Crist, spoke to the BBC while boarding up the windows of his dentist office. “Everyone’s gone. I’ve never seen it so quiet,” he said.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, President Biden said the storm could be one of Florida’s worst in a century.

“Evacuate now, now, now,” he told Florida residents.

The White House cancelled Biden’s planned visit to Germany and Angola in order to oversee preparations for Milton and ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene.

(BBC News)

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Nepal bans Telegram app

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Nepal on Friday barred access to the Telegram app, citing the use of the social media platform for criminal activities.
The Nepal Telecommunications Authority issued a notice ordering telecom service providers to immediately stop access to the app.

“The number of online frauds has been continuously increasing in Nepal with the use of the Telegram app and it has been understood that the app has been used in serious crimes such as money laundering,” the notice said.

“Therefore, all telecommunication service providers are instructed to immediately restrict or shut down access to the Telegram app,” it added.

(Xinhua)

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Pakistan extends airspace ban for Indian flights till Aug. 24

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Pakistan has extended the closure of its airspace for flights operated by Indian airlines by another month till August 24, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said.

No aircraft operated by Indian airlines, or military and civilian flights that are Indian-owned or leased, will be allowed to use Pakistani airspace, according to a NOTAM (notice to airmen) that came into effect at 3:50 pm India time on Friday.

The ban will remain in place till August 24 at 5:19 am (India time), the PAA said.

The Indian airspace is also closed to all Pakistani aircraft till July 24 after a ban was imposed first on April 30 as part of measures taken by the Indian government against Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people on April 22.

Pakistan shut its airspace for Indian aircraft on April 24 and the tit-for-tat restrictions by the two nations have been extended multiple times. 

(PTI)

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White House says Trump diagnosed with vein condition

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Donald Trump is suffering from a chronic vein condition, the White House announced on Thursday, after days of speculation regarding photographs showing bruising on the US president’s hand.

After recently experiencing swelling in his legs, Trump underwent a “comprehensive exam” including vascular testing, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Leavitt said Trump’s bruised hand was consistent with “tissue damage from frequent handshaking” while taking aspirin, which she said is “part of a standard cardio-vascular prevention regimen”.

Trump, 79, has regularly touted his good health and once described himself as “the healthiest president that’s ever lived”.

The president’s recently discovered vein condition is called chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when leg veins fail to pump blood to the heart, causing it to pool in the lower limbs, which can then become swollen.

Veins and valves “propel the blood up and out of the leg” and back toward the heart, Dr Meryl Logan, assistant professor of vascular surgery at the University of Texas at Austin told the BBC.

Blood flowing from the legs to the heart is moving against gravity, which can make that process more difficult.

“So what chronic venous insufficiency is, is when those veins and valves don’t work and blood goes backwards down the legs,” she said.

Leavitt said that there was “no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease” and that all results from the test were “within normal limits”.

According to a note from White House physician Sean Barbabella released to reporters, the condition is “benign and common”, especially in people over age 70.

Additional testing showed “no signs of heart failure, renal impairment, or systemic illness” in Trump, Barbabella said in the note, which confirmed the information from Leavitt’s earlier briefing.

Overall, Trump is in “excellent health”, the doctor wrote.

Photographers captured what appeared to be Trump’s swollen legs during the Fifa Club World Cup final in New Jersey on 13 July, with subsequent photos taken earlier this week showing his bruised hands during a meet with Bahraini Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the White House.

A bruise on the president’s hand had previously been photographed during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in February.

His swollen legs and bruising prompted online speculation and rumours that the president may have been experiencing an illness that hadn’t been made public.

Following an annual physical exam in April, Barbabella wrote that Trump “exhibits cognitive and physical health”.

Trump was 78 years and seven months old when he was sworn in for his second term in January, making him the oldest president to ever be inaugurated as US leader.

Doctors told the BBC they agree with Barbabella’s assessment on the severity of chronic venous insufficiency.

“It can be associated with serious conditions, but in and of itself it is not a serious condition, and one that is very common,” Dr Matthew Edwards, chair of the Department of Vascular Surgery at Wake Forest University, told the BBC.

“People in his age (group), I would say probably somewhere between 10 and 35% of people would have this.”

Experts say other risks include being overweight, having a history of blood clots, and having jobs that require patients to be on their feet for long durations.

Wearing custom-made medical-grade compression stockings can help manage the condition, and experts also recommend patients elevating their legs at night.

“I tell my patients to use a good creamy lotion all over their legs and feet every day, and then controlling other potential risk factors such as obesity,” Dr Logan said.

Chronic venous insufficiency only affects the lower part of the body, so the condition is unrelated to the bruising seen on the president’s hand, which generated speculation in recent days.

The president’s doctor said the bruising was a result of handshaking and a side effect of him taking aspirin, a medication which can help prevent heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes.

Dr Edwards said he agrees with the White House doctor’s explanation that Trump’s aspirin intake along with his age could be responsible for the bruising.

“We are all more prone to bruising as we get older, and you see that a lot in people that take aspirin and other blood-thinning agents.”

“I’m sure it could if someone squeezes your hand hard enough, (you could get a bruise),” Dr Edwards said.

“That would be a pretty stiff handshake.”

(BBC News)

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