KABUL, July 31 (AFP) - Afghan officials have finished consulting Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan on the new draft constitution which will pave the way for presidential elections by June 2004, a United Nations spokesman said on Thursday.

"Public consultations have now concluded in the provinces of Nuristan and Ghor as well as in Iran and Pakistan," Manoel de Almeida e Silva told reporters at a press conference.

"The process had the wide support and cooperation of the Iranian authorities and the observer role of the

This report includes:
A) Middle East and Central Asia: (1) Iraq, (2) Afghanistan, (3) Pakistan

B) East and Central Africa: (1) DR Congo, (2) Burundi, (3) Rwanda, (4)Uganda, (5) Sudan, (6) Ethiopia, (7) Djibouti, (8) Somalia

C) West Africa: (1) Mauritania, (2) Guinea, (3) Sierra Leone, (4) Liberia

D) Southern Africa: (1) Regional, (2) Namibia, (3) Angola, (4) Malawi, (5) Zimbabwe, (6) Mozambique, (7) Swaziland, (8) Lesotho, (9) Madagascar

E) Asia: (1) DPR Korea

F) Latin America and the Caribbean: (1) Guatemala

By Tahir Ikram

KARACHI, July 31 (Reuters) - Relief and rescue efforts were in full swing on Thursday in Pakistan's southern Sindh province, hit by monsoon floods affecting hundreds of thousands of people and killing at least 110.

Rescue officials said water was receding, making it easier to reach areas badly affected since the end of last week following floods that devastated hundreds of villages and marooned 100,000 people in several districts of Sindh.

Pakistani authorities are racing against time to rescue those still at risk and provide food for tens of thousands

GENEVA, July 29 (UNHCR) - More than 300,000 Afghan refugees have returned home this year with support from the UN refugee agency, a spokesman said Tuesday. Including spontaneous returns from Iran, the number of Afghans back in their homeland so far this year now stands at more than 355,000.
At the same time, UNHCR has been distributing emergency aid to thousands of Afghan families who lost their homes and crops when dust storms swept western Afghanistan.

Last week, more than 14,000 Afghan refugees returned home from abroad with UNHCR help. That number is down from a nearly

Sonja Pace
New Delhi
30 Jul 2003, 11:17 UTC

More than one month of monsoon rains has been a mixed blessing for South Asia. In parts of the region, the rains have brought a welcome end to several years of drought; in other areas, however, more than 800 people have died.

The effects of this year's rains have varied greatly. In some areas, the rains have been very heavy, causing major flooding and mudslides and killing people, destroying homes and ruining crops.

So far, more than 800 people have been killed throughout the region, and more than five million have been affected

This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today's Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva. Further information can be found on the UNHCR website, www.unhcr.ch, which should also be checked for regular media updates on non-briefing days.
1) IRAQ REPATRIATION

We expect the first convoy of refugees returning to Iraq since the fall of the previous government to leave Saudi Arabia's Rafha camp this evening. More than 240 Iraqis will be leaving in the convoy, which is expected to cross into southern Iraq early tomorrow

ISLAMABAD, 29 July (IRIN) - Heavy monsoon rains continued their relentless downpour in the southern province of Sindh on Monday, claiming at least another five lives, causing even more havoc and hampering relief efforts, officials said on Tuesday.
The southern port city of Karachi has received the most rainfall in a single day since the rain began in earnest almost two weeks ago, and more rain is expected. "We received almost 108 mm of rain yesterday [Monday], and expect moderate to heavy showers within the next 36 to 48 hours," Hasrat Mir, an official of the meteorological

KARACHI, July 28: Sindh was again lashed by heavy rains on Monday, with a spokesman for the provincial government putting the overall death toll at 81.

Life in Karachi was paralyzed as the skies opened up in the afternoon, leading to chaos on the waterlogged roads. Three deaths were reported from different localities of the city, two from electrocution and one from drowning.

Some parts of the sprawling city were under waist-deep water as rain continued intermittently from late afternoon to well into the night, with an average of 79 millimetres being recorded

Karachi, Pakistan (dpa) - Pakistan's naval forces joined rescue operations in the rain-swept southern province of Sindh on Monday as meteorolgists predicted more precipitation.

Some 45,000 people remain marooned in the Badin coastal district, 100 kilometres east of the southern city Karachi, where record-breaking rains uprooted more than 100,000 farmers and fishermen, according to the state-run PTV television channel.

Army vessels and helicopters rescued about 6,000 people since the military was called in on Saturday.

Pakistani authorities declared an emergency