United News of Bangladesh

The Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly (WHA76) will take place from May 21-30 in Geneva, Switzerland. The theme of this year’s Health Assembly is “WHO at 75: Saving lives, driving health for all.” WHA76 will kick off with ‘Walk the Talk’ starting at 08:30 CEST on May 21 at Place des Nations. The official WHA76 opening will take place at the Palais des Nations at 14:00, with a high-level welcome.  Key discussions and decisions are expected on:  A review of WHOs work in health emergencies, including the International Health Regulations and strengthening WHO preparedness for and response to health emergencies; Strategies and global action on areas such as women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, rehabilitation, universal health coverage and primary health care, traditional medicine, infection prevention and control, substandard and falsified medicines, health of refugees and migrants, non-communicable diseases, mental health, social determinants, nutrition and disabilities.  

New Zealand police said they have found the body of a high school student in a cave after a school group got into trouble when floodwaters hit. A group of 15 students and two adults had set out Tuesday morning on a trip to the Abbey Caves in Whangārei as part of an outdoor education class, authorities said. The others made it out safely. The death has raised questions about why school officials chose to go ahead with the trip even after forecasters had warned that heavy rain was approaching. The district council website cautions people to “check weather forecast as caves can be prone to flash flooding.” The site says the cave system features dramatic limestone outcrops, sink holes and three significant caves. “We acknowledge this event has been very distressing for the school and wider community, and that there are a number of questions the public will have,” Police Superintendent Tony Hill said in a statement. "At the moment, police’s focus is on supporting those affected." Hill said the body was recovered late Tuesday. Whangārei Boys’ High School Principal Karen Gilbert-Smith wrote on Facebook that the event was “hugely upsetting” for all those involved. “In time we will seek to understand how this situation occurred, but for now I ask that we stay united as a WBHS community and provide support where required,” the principal wrote. Further south, the heavy rainfall and flooding Tuesday prompted authorities in Auckland to declare a state of emergency. The declaration remained in place Wednesday morning as the weather eased. Fire and emergency crews said they responded to more than 200 calls on Tuesday, most of them in Auckland. Many were for floodwaters entering buildings, but they had also responded to landslides, falling trees and trapped cars. Some train and bus services were canceled, and authorities urged people to avoid unnecessary travel. Severe weather has plagued the North Island this year. In January, four people were killed when floodwaters hit Auckland. In February, 11 people died when Cyclone Gabrielle hit. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said it was a difficult time for the region. He said Tuesday he'd yet to find out all the details on what had happened to the student. “I do want to express my deep concern there and my absolute support for the school community," Hipkins said.

A Tunisian naval guard shot and killed a colleague and two civilians Tuesday as he tried to reach a synagogue on the Mediterranean island of Djerba during an annual Jewish pilgrimage, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said. The attacker was slain by security guards, and 10 people were injured. The motive for the attack was under investigation. It came as Tunisia, once a prized tourist destination and birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings, has fallen into political and economic crisis. Djerba, a picturesque island off the southern coast of Tunisia, is home to the North African country’s main Jewish community. The civilians killed were French and Tunisian, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said. It was not immediately clear if they were pilgrims attending ceremonies at the 2,500-year-old Ghriba temple, one of Africa's oldest synagogues. Also read: 8 fatally shot in Serbia town a day after 9 killed at school Those injured include six security agents and four civilians, the Interior Ministry said. It did not specify how they were injured or whether they were all shot by the attacker, who was not publicly identified. The assailant, a guard affiliated with the National Guard naval center in the port town of Aghir on Djerba, first killed a colleague with his service weapon and then seized ammunition and headed toward the Ghriba synagogue, the ministry said. When he reached the site, he opened fire on security units stationed at the temple, who fired back, killing him before he reached the entrance, the ministry said. The synagogue was locked down and those inside and outside were kept secure while authorities investigate the motives for the attack, the ministry said. Ghayda Thabet, a member of the Tunisian Association for the Support of Minorities, was at the Ghriba synagogue and appealed for help on Facebook. “They are shooting with live ammunition. Help us,” she pleaded in a post. Videos circulating online showed panic-stricken visitors running while gunshots rang out. It occurred during an annual pilgrimage that attracts thousands of visitors from around the world to Djerba. In 2002, a truck bombing killed some 20 people at the entrance to the same temple during the annual Jewish pilgrimage. Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for that attack, whose victims included German and French tourists as well as Tunisians. In 2015, an attack in Tunisia at the Mediterranean resort of Sousse killed 38, mostly British tourists. The Islamic State group claimed that attack, along with attacks that year on the famed Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis and on a bus carrying presidential guards.

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested and dragged from court Tuesday as he appeared to face charges in multiple graft cases, a dramatic escalation of political tensions that sparked violent demonstrations by his angry supporters across the country. The arrest of Khan, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 but remains the leading opposition figure, represented the latest confrontation to roil Pakistan, which has seen former prime ministers arrested over the years and interventions by its powerful military. At least one person was reported killed in clashes between protesters and the military in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, with another five people wounded there, while about 15 injuries were reported amid similar violence in Karachi, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore. Police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrations. Amid the violence, officials at Pakistan’s telecommunication authority said regulators blocked social media, including Twitter, and internet service was suspended in the capital of Islamabad and other cities. Classes at some private schools were canceled for Wednesday. Khan was removed from the Islamabad High Court by security agents from the National Accountability Bureau, said Fawad Chaudhry, a senior official with his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, and then shoved into an armored car and whisked away. Also read: Protests errupt after Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan's arrest Chaudhry denounced the arrest of the 71-year-old former cricket star as “an abduction.” Pakistan’s independent GEO TV broadcast video of Khan being hauled away. A scuffle broke out between Khan’s supporters and police outside the court. Some of Khan’s lawyers and supporters were injured in the melee, as were several police, Chaudhry said. Khan was taken to the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, for questioning at the offices of the National Accountability Bureau, according to police and government officials. He also was to undergo a routine medical checkup, police said. Khan had arrived at the Islamabad High Court from nearby Lahore, where he lives, to face charges in the graft cases. He has denounced the cases against him, which include terrorism charges, as a politically motivated plot by his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, saying his ouster was illegal and a Western conspiracy. Khan has campaigned against Sharif and demanded early elections. Tuesday's arrest was based on a new warrant from the National Accountability Bureau obtained last week in a separate graft case for which Khan had not been granted bail. His lawyers challenged the legality of the arrest, but the court upheld it, although it added that Khan should not have been forcibly removed from the courtroom. Khan is scheduled to appear at an anti-graft tribunal on Wednesday, officials said. “Imran Khan has been arrested because he was being sought in a graft case,” Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan told a news conference. He alleged Pakistan’s treasury had lost millions of dollars while Khan was in office due to illegal purchases of lands from a business tycoon. The National Accountability Bureau is Pakistan’s powerful anti-corruption organization that has detained and investigated former officials, including prime ministers, politicians and retired military officers. But some view the NAB as a tool used by those in power, especially the military, to crack down on political opponents. When Khan was in power, his government arrested Sharif, then the opposition leader, through the NAB. At a news conference, Law Minister Azam Tarar said Khan was arrested because he was not cooperating with the investigations. He also denounced the violence by Khan supporters, saying that protests must remain peaceful. “It should have not happened,” he said, shortly after TV video emerged of burning vehicles and damaged public property in parts of the country. Authorities said they have banned rallies in the eastern province of Punjab. As the news of the arrest spread, about 4,000 of Khan’s supporters stormed the official residence of the top regional commander in Lahore, smashing windows and doors, damaging furniture and staging a sit-in as troops there retreated to avoid violence. The protesters also burned police vehicles and blocked key roads. Protesters also smashed the main gate of the army’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where troops exercised restraint. Hundreds of demonstrators shouted pro-Khan slogans as they moved toward the sprawling building. In the port city of Karachi, police swung batons and fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Khan supporters who had gathered on a key road. Raoof Hasan, another leader from Khan’s party, told Al Jazeera English television that the arrest is “blatant interference in the judicial affairs by the powers-that-be." Hasan added that Khan "was virtually abducted from the court of law.” Khan's arrest came hours after he issued a video message before heading to Islamabad, saying he was “mentally prepared” for arrest there. Khan was wounded by a gunman at a rally in November, an attack that killed one of his supporters and wounded 13. He has insisted, without offering any evidence, that there is a plot to assassinate him, alleging that Pakistan's spy agency was behind the conspiracy. The gunman was immediately arrested and police later released a video of him in custody, allegedly saying he had acted alone. In a strongly worded statement Monday, the military accused Khan of “fabricated and malicious allegations” of its involvement in the November shooting, saying they are “extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable.” The military has directly ruled Pakistan for more than half of the 75 years since the country gained independence from British colonial rule, and wields considerable power over civilian governments. Sharif, whose government faces spiraling economic woes and is struggling to recover from last year’s devastating floods that killed hundreds and caused $30 billion in damage, slammed Khan for assailing the military. “Let this be abundantly clear that you, as former prime minister, currently on trial for corruption, are claiming legitimacy to overturn the legal and political system," Sharif tweeted after Khan's arrest. In a statement, the European Union urged “restraint and cool headedness” in the country, through dialogue and the rule of law. In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly both said at a news conference they were aware of reports about Khan’s arrest but declined any substantive comment. “We just want to make sure that whatever happens in Pakistan is consistent with the rule of law, with the constitution,” Blinken said. Cleverly said he had not been briefed in detail but added, “The U.K. has a longstanding and close relationship with Pakistan. We are Commonwealth partners. We want to see peaceful democracy in that country. We want ot see the rule of law adhered to. I’m uncomfortable to speculate further without having a detailed briefing on that.” Khan is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was arrested and hanged in 1979. The current prime minister’s brother, Nawaz Sharif, who also served as prime minister, was arrested several times on corruption allegations. In March, police stormed Khan’s Lahore residence, seeking to arrest him based on a court order in a different case. Dozens of people, including police, were injured in ensuing clashes. Khan was not arrested at the time and later obtained bail in the case. Khan came to power in 2018 after winning parliamentary elections and had initially good relations with the military which gradually soured.

According to a new study, adults in their 20s and 30s with mental illnesses have a greater risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. The study, published Monday in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, examined the health data of almost 6.5 million people from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, reports CNN. The participants in the research varied in age from 20 to 39 and were examined for health between 2009 and 2012. Their health was evaluated for new onset heart attacks and strokes until December 2018, it said. According to the study, around 13% of individuals had some sort of mental disease, which included insomnia, anxiety, depression, somatoform disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, drug use disorder, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or a personality disorder. The study found that those under the age of 40 who have a mental illness are 58% more likely to have a heart attack and 42% more likely to have a stroke than those who do not have a mental disorder. “We have known for some time that mental health and physical health are linked, but what I find surprising about these findings is that these links were observable at such a young age,” said Dr Katherine Ehrlich, an associate professor of behavioral and brain sciences at the University of Georgia. Ehrlich was not involved in the research. Coronary artery disease and heart attacks are uncommon in persons under the age of 40, therefore, a major research like this one was required to investigate the link between mental health and such an unusual occurrence in young people, she explained. Mental health and lifestyle Ehrlich stated that she would like to learn more about the participants' physical activity and diets in order to better understand the association between mental health disorders and heart attack and stroke. “For example, if you are chronically depressed, you may struggle to maintain a healthy diet and get adequate physical activity, which might in turn increase your risk for cardiac events over time,” she said. The study said, the higher risk could not be attributable to lifestyle variations alone because the investigators accounted for age, gender, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, chronic renal disease, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, and income, the report added. However, according to research author Dr Eue-Keun Choi, a professor of internal medicine at Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea, lifestyle should not be overlooked.“While lifestyle behaviours did not explain the excess cardiovascular risk, this does not mean that healthier habits would not improve prognosis,” Choi said in a statement. “Lifestyle modification should therefore be recommended to young adults with mental disorders to boost heart health.” Changes and checkups According author Dr Chan Soon Park, a researcher at Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea, one in every eight adults between the ages of 20 and 39 evaluated had some type of mental disorder, implying that a significant number of people may be prone to heart attack and stroke, the report said further. According to Park, this might indicate a higher need for controlling psychiatric disorders and monitoring heart health in people at risk. “If we can reduce the number of people living with chronic mental illness, we may find secondary benefits in future years regarding the number of people managing cardiac-related conditions,” Ehrlich said. She went on to say that the data do not prove that mental disorder causes heart attacks or strokes. However, the findings do point to a risk factor to be aware of. Preventive strategies to reduce risks such as keeping a balanced diet and adding physical activity, may be beneficial, according to Ehrlich. Choi suggested that patients with mental health issues get frequent examinations as well. She said that these findings may highlight the importance of addressing loneliness. “Many individuals with mental illness suffer from social isolation and loneliness, and for years researchers have been sounding the alarm that loneliness is detrimental for physical health,” Ehrlich said. “Efforts to improve social connectedness among young people may be critical to addressing the rising rates of cardio metabolic conditions in adulthood,” she added.

Due to declining spending in maternal and newborn health, global progress in lowering the early mortality of pregnant women, mothers, and babies has stagnated for eight years, said a new UN World Health Organization (WHO) report. The report, titled "Improving maternal and newborn health and survival and reducing stillbirth," analyzes the most recent statistics, which share similar risk factors and causes, and tracks the provision of critical health services. The new publication was launched at a major global conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Overall, the analysis demonstrates that improvements in survival have stalled since 2015, as evidenced by the annual average of 290,000 maternal fatalities, 1.9 million stillbirths (babies who die after 28 weeks of pregnancy), and a startling 2.3 million infant deaths during the first month of life. The report shows that over 4.5 million women and babies die every year during pregnancy, childbirth or the first weeks after birth, equivalent to one death happening every seven seconds. Most of the deaths were from preventable or treatable causes if proper care was available. The COVID-19 pandemic, rising poverty, and worsening humanitarian crises have intensified pressures on stretched health systems. Just one in 10 countries (of more than 100 surveyed) report having sufficient funds to implement their current plans. According to the latest WHO survey on the pandemic’s impacts on essential health services, around 25 per cent of countries still report ongoing disruptions to vital pregnancy and postnatal care and services for sick children. “Pregnant women and newborns continue to die at unacceptably high rates worldwide, and the COVID-19 pandemic has created further setbacks to providing them with the healthcare they need,” said Dr. Anshu Banerjee, Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organization (WHO). “If we wish to see different results, we must do things differently. More and smarter investments in primary healthcare are needed now so that every woman and baby -- no matter where they live -- has the best chance of health and survival.” In the worst-affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia, the regions with the greatest burden of newborn and maternal deaths, fewer than 60 per cent of women receive even four, of WHO’s recommended eight, antenatal checks. "The death of any woman or young girl during pregnancy or childbirth is a serious violation of their human rights,” said Dr Julitta Onabanjo, Director of the Technical Division at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). “It also reflects the urgent need to scale-up access to quality sexual and reproductive health services as part of universal health coverage and primary health care, especially in communities where maternal mortality rates have stagnated or even risen during recent years. We must take a human rights and gender transformative approach to address maternal and newborn mortality, and it is vital that we stamp out the underlying factors which give rise to poor maternal health outcomes like socio-economic inequalities, discrimination, poverty, and injustice". Based on current trends, more than 60 countries are not set to meet the maternal, newborn, and stillborn mortality reduction targets in the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The Associated Press won two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday for its coverage of the war in Ukraine, earning recognition for its breaking news photography of the Russian invasion, as well as the prestigious public service award for its startling — and exclusive — dispatches from the besieged port city of Mariupol. AP journalists were also finalists in two Pulitzer categories, for breaking news photography of Sri Lanka’s political crisis and for feature photography of the Ukraine war's impact on older people. For the public service award, the Pulitzer judges acknowledged AP — which had the only international journalists in Mariupol for nearly three weeks — for capturing notable images of an injured, pregnant woman being rushed to medical help and Russia firing on civilian targets. AP’s Mariupol team was made up of videojournalist Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka and video producer Vasilisa Stepanenko on the ground in the besieged city, and reporter Lori Hinnant in Paris. Other winners of two Pulitzers apiece were AL.com, of Birmingham, Alabama, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and The Washington Post. The Pulitzers honor the best in journalism from 2022 in 15 categories, as well as eight arts categories focused on books, music and theater. The public service winner receives a gold medal. All other winners receive $15,000. Kyle Whitmire, of AL.com, won a commentary award for “measured and persuasive columns” about Alabama’s Confederate heritage and a legacy of racism. His Alabama colleagues John Archibald, Ashley Remkus, Ramsey Archibald and Challen Stephens won a local reporting award for a probe into a local police force. It was a second Pulitzer win for John Archibald, who previously won in 2018 for commentary, and the first for his son, Ramsey Archibald. Remkus and Stephens were also picking up their second Pulitzers, after being part of a team that won in 2021 for national reporting. “The recognition is tremendous and we’re grateful our work is being honored on the national stage like this,” Kelly Ann Scott, editor in chief and vice president of Alabama Media Group, said in a statement. “This is local journalism at its best – and local journalism is the heartbeat of this country’s journalism in general.” The New York Times was honored with an international reporting award for its coverage of Russian killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. Pulitzers were also given for work surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion standard, the government’s policy of child separation at the border, and welfare spending in Mississippi. The Washington Post’s Caroline Kitchener won for “unflinching reporting” on the consequences of the abortion decision, including the story of a Texas teenager who gave birth to twins after new restrictions denied her an abortion. The Post’s Eli Saslow won for feature writing. The Los Angeles Times won for breaking news for its stories revealing a secretly recorded conversation with city officials making racist comments. The newspaper’s Christina House won for feature photography, for her images of a 22-year-old pregnant woman living on the street. The AP coverage of Mariupol, according to the Ukrainian city’s deputy mayor, focused the world’s attention on the devastation there and ultimately pressured Russians to open an evacuation route, saving thousands of civilian lives. “They told the world of the human toll of this war in its earliest days,” AP Executive Editor Julie Pace said during a staff Zoom celebration. “They served as a counterweight against Russian disinformation, and they helped open up a humanitarian corridor out of Mariupol with the power of their work.” The AP team that won for breaking news photography included Maloletka, who was part of the Mariupol coverage, along with Bernat Armangue, Emilio Morenatti, Felipe Dana, Nariman El-Mofty, Rodrigo Abd and Vadim Ghirda. AP's director of photography, David Ake, credited winners in the breaking news photography category for simply staying put in a war zone to bear witness. “You can’t make the moment that captures the world if you’re not there, and being there is often dirty and difficult and dangerous,” he said. Pulitzer Prize Board co-chair Neil Brown highlighted the dangers faced by journalists, noting the imprisonment in Russia of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges, which his family and the newspaper vehemently deny. Brown said the board demands Gershkovich's immediate release. The Atlantic won the Pulitzer for explanatory journalism for Caitlin Dickerson’s exhaustive probe of the Trump administration policy of separating parents from children at the U.S. border. The Wall Street Journal won for its investigation into federal officials holding stock that could have been affected by government action, including dozens who reported trading stock in companies shortly before their own agencies announced enforcement actions against them. Anna Wolfe, of Mississippi Today, was honored for her reporting on a former Mississippi governor sending federal welfare money to family and friends, including NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre. Andrew Long Chu, of New York magazine, won a Pulitzer for criticism. Nancy Ancrum, Amy Driscoll, Luisa Yanez, Isadora Rangell and Lauren Constantino, of the Miami Herald, won for editorial writing. Mona Chalabi, a contributor to The New York Times, won for illustrated reporting and commentary. The staff of Gimlet Media won for audio reporting. The prizes were established in the will of newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer and first awarded in 1917.

Some Afghan women employed by the United Nations have been detained, harassed and had restrictions placed on their movements since being banned by the Taliban from working for the world body, the U.N. said Tuesday. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers informed the United Nations early last month that Afghan women employed with the U.N. mission could no longer report for work. “This is the most recent in a series of discriminatory – and unlawful – measures implemented by the de facto authorities with the goal of severely restricting women and girls’ participation in most areas of public and daily life in Afghanistan,” the U.N. said in a report on the human rights situation in the south Asian country. Taliban authorities continued to crack down on dissenting voices this year, in particular those who speak out on issues related to the rights of women and girls, the report said. The U.N. report cited the March arrest of four women who were released the following day during a protest demanding access to education and work in the capital of Kabul and the arrest of Matiullah Wesa, head of PenPath, a civil society organization campaigning for the reopening of girls’ schools. Read: UN urges Afghanistan’s Taliban to end floggings, executions It also pointed to the arrest of a women’s rights activist Parisa Mobariz and her brother in February in the northern Takhar province. Several other civil society activists have been released — reportedly without being charged — following extended periods of arbitrary detention by the Taliban Intelligence service, the report said. The measures will have disastrous effects on Afghanistan’s prospects for prosperity, stability and peace, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA said in the report. “UNAMA is concerned by increasing restrictions on civic space across Afghanistan,” said Fiona Frazer, the agency’s human rights chief. The Taliban previously banned girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade and blocked women from most public life and work. In December, they banned Afghan women from working at local and non-governmental organizations — a measure that at the time did not extend to U.N. offices. The report also pointed to ongoing extrajudicial killings of individuals affiliated with the former government. On March 5 in southern Kandahar, Taliban forces arrested a former police officer from his home, then shot and killed him, according to the report. During the same month in northern Balkh, a former military official was killed by unknown armed men in his house, it said. “Arbitrary arrests and detention of former government officials and Afghanistan National Security and Defense Force members also occurred throughout February, March and April,” added the report. In a separate report released Monday, the U.N. strongly criticized the Taliban for carrying out public executions, lashings and stonings since seizing power in Afghanistan, and called on the country’s rulers to halt such practices. In the past six months alone, 274 men, 58 women and two boys were publicly flogged in Afghanistan, said the report. The Taliban foreign ministry said in response that Afghanistan’s laws are determined in accordance with Islamic rules and guidelines, and that an overwhelming majority of Afghans follow those rules. The Taliban began carrying out such punishments shortly after coming to power almost two years ago, despite initial promises of a more moderate rule than during their previous stint in power in the 1990s. Under the first Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, public corporal punishment and executions were carried out by officials against individuals convicted of crimes, often in large venues such as sports stadiums and at urban intersections.    

China has announced the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat in retaliation for Ottawa’s ordering a Chinese consular official to leave over alleged threats he made against a Canadian lawmaker and his family. The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said China was deploying a “reciprocal countermeasure to Canada’s unscrupulous move,” which it said it “firmly opposes.” Read: Canada mulls expelling China diplomat for targeting lawmaker It said the Canadian diplomat based in the business hub of Shanghai has been asked to leave by May 13 and that China “reserves the right to take further actions in response.” Canada earlier on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is expelling a Chinese diplomat whom Canada’s spy agency alleged was involved in a plot to intimidate an opposition lawmaker and his relatives in Hong Kong. A senior government official said Toronto-based diplomat Zhao Wei has five days to leave the country.    

Fire crews battled wildfires threatening communities in western Canada on Sunday as cooler temperatures and a bit of rain brought some relief, but officials warned the reprieve came only in some areas. Officials in Alberta said there were 108 active fires in the province and the number of evacuees grew to about 29,000, up from approximately 24,000 Saturday, when a provincewide state of emergency was declared. Two out-of-control wildfires in neighboring British Columbia also caused some people to leave their homes, and officials warned that they expected high winds to cause the blazes to grow bigger in the next few days. Provinicial officials in Alberta said the weather forecast was favorable for the next few days, with small amounts of rain and overcast conditions. But they cautioned that hot and dry conditions were predicted to return within a few days. “People have called this season certainly unprecedented in recent memory because we have so many fires so spread out,” Christie Tucker with Alberta Wildfire said at a briefing. “It’s been an unusual year.” Colin Blair, executive director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, said accurate damage reports were not yet available because conditions made it difficult to assess the situation. There were of buildings destroyed in the town of Fox Lake, including 20 homes, a police station and a store. In northeastern British Columbia, officials urged residents to evacuate the areas around two out-of-control wildfires near the Alberta border, saying there were reports of some people staying behind. “This is impeding the response and putting their lives and the lives of firefighters at risk," said Leonard Hiebert, chairman of the Peace River Regional District. A third fire in British Columbia was burning out of control 700 kilometers (430 miles) to the south, in the Teare Creek region, and some residents near the village of McBride were evacuated.