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Iran was laying plans Saturday to cut off water supplies periodically to Tehran's 10mn-strong population as it battles its worst drought in many decades.Rainfall in the capital has this year been at its lowest level in a century, local officials say, and half of Iran's provinces have not seen a drop fall in months.Now, to save water, the government is planning water cuts in Tehran -- and several local news outlets have already reported pipes running dry overnight in some areas."This will help avoid waste even though it may cause inconvenience," Iran's Energy Minister Abbas Ali Abadi said on state television.In a speech broadcast on Friday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian had warned that Tehran might have to be evacuated if no rain falls before the end of the year.But he gave no details about how such a vast operation would be conducted.Tehran nestles on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountains and has hot dry summers usually relieved by autumn rains and winter snowfall.Tehran is by far the country's biggest city and its inhabitants use three million cubic metres of water per day, according to local media.The main Amir Kabir dam on the Karaj river, one of five reservoirs serving the capital, is running dry and holds only 14mn cubic litres, according to Behzad Parsa, director general of the Tehran water company, cited by the official news agency IRNA.During the same period last year, the reservoir held 86mn cubic metres, he added, but now it only has enough to maintain supplies to the Tehran region for less than two weeks.Saturday, state television broadcast images of several dams, serving the central city of Isfahan and Tabriz in the northwest, showing significantly lower water levels compared to previous years.Hassan Hosseini, the deputy Iran's second-largest city Mashhad, told IRNA agency on Thursday that night-time water cuts were being considered to address the water shortage.And over the summer on July and August, two public holidays were declared in Tehran to save water and energy, at a time when power outages were almost daily during the intense heatwave.

The State of Qatar has dispatched urgent relief and humanitarian aid to the city of Al Dabbah in the Northern State of the Republic of the Sudan, as part of its firm commitment to supporting the Sudanese people, particularly amid the difficult humanitarian conditions faced by civilians, including severe food shortages and an increasing need for shelter and essential supplies.**media[376433]**The aid includes approximately 3,000 food baskets, 1,650 shelter tents, and other essential items, provided by the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and Qatar Charity, to support displaced persons from the city of Al-Fashir and nearby areas.The assistance is expected to benefit more than 50,000 people and includes the establishment of a special camp for Qatari aid under the name “Qatar Al-Khair.”This initiative comes as part of Qatar’s ongoing efforts to stand by the people of Sudan and alleviate their suffering caused by the armed conflict.It also reflects Qatar’s leading humanitarian role in strengthening global response efforts and fostering solidarity with affected communities around the world.**media[376432]**

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna said that UNRWA has been unable to bring in any of the humanitarian supplies allocated to the Gaza Strip, despite the ceasefire coming into effect days before. Abu Hasna stressed that UNRWA is the backbone of humanitarian work within the Gaza Strip and must lead the response there. He added that excluding UNRWA from humanitarian efforts in Gaza means the collapse of this process, as well as people's lack of trust in it. He explained that UNRWA employees continue to carry out their work despite the difficulties, but they have been prevented by the Israeli occupation from distributing food aid. Until now, Israel has not allowed UNRWA to bring in food and non-food aid, which is contained in 6,000 trucks waiting at the gates of the Gaza Strip. These trucks contain food supplies sufficient for the residents of the Gaza Strip for three months, he added. UNRWA also has hundreds of thousands of blankets, tents and clothes, as well as large quantities of medicine, Abu Hasna added. He stressed that these items must enter so that the agency can truly confront the harsh and dangerous conditions in the Strip, which are still deteriorating now. The war has stopped, the shooting has stopped, but unfortunately there are new aspects to this war, which is the continuation of the suffering, Abu Hasna stressed.