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BUENOS AIRES, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Hurricane Polo moved away from Mexico’s Pacific coast on Saturday after it regained the highest Category 5 ​strength, before an expected return to make landfall in Baja California Sur on Monday, forecasters said. On Saturday morning, Polo was about 425 miles south west of the Mexican resort town of Cabo Corrientes, with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph, according to the US National Hurricane Center. The storm was moving north west at 10 mph. AccuWeather, a private ​forecaster, reported that 24 hours after hitting Baja California, the hurricane was expected to make a second landfall along the coast of mainland northwestern Mexico, bringing potential life-threatening flash flooding to parts of Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora and Chihuahua. The hurricane’s heavy rain and strong winds along Mexico’s Pacific coast forced evacuations, port closures and school cancellations this week. ​In the resort city of San Jose del Cabo, police officers restricted access to a beach on Friday as the hurricane generated high waves and dangerous surf conditions. Hurricane conditions are possible on Monday afternoon from Punta Eugenia to Santa Fe in Baja California, the NHC said. Polo is expected to dump 4 to 8 inches of rain across parts of Baja California Sur, with maximum amounts of 10 inches, which could produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, the NHC said. It could also cause life-threatening surf, rip currents and coastal flooding. (Reporting by Leila Miller; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

DHAKA, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Bangladesh launched a nationwide measles-rubella vaccination campaign on Saturday, targeting 3.4 million unvaccinated and missed children, amid its worst-ever measles outbreak, which has killed more than 1,000 people and infected tens of thousands. The month-long campaign aims to vaccinate children aged 6 months to 59 months who missed earlier immunisation efforts after authorities lowered the minimum vaccination age from the usual 9 months because of the outbreak. The outbreak has exposed gaps in childhood immunisation and put growing pressure on health services, already grappling with a seasonal surge in dengue infections. Bangladesh is currently experiencing the world’s largest measles outbreak, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has recorded 1,087 confirmed and suspected measles-related deaths, including 101 laboratory-confirmed fatalities. Since March 15, authorities have reported nearly 187,000 suspected cases and 21,099 confirmed infections, with more than 165,000 people hospitalised, health ministry data showed. Health experts attributed the crisis to disruptions in routine immunisation programmes in 2024 and 2025, when political turmoil, changes to vaccine procurement and the postponement or cancellation of vaccination campaigns left many children unprotected. Missed vaccinations and vaccine supply disruptions left children vulnerable to infection, particularly infants under 9 months who are too young to receive routine measles immunisation, helping fuel transmission across age groups. Since April, Bangladesh has vaccinated nearly 20 million children through emergency and follow-up campaigns. However, experts say significant immunity gaps remain, with many eligible children still unvaccinated or missed during previous drives. They say reaching every eligible child in the latest campaign will be critical to slowing transmission and preventing future outbreaks of the highly contagious disease. Authorities said the campaign will help close immunity gaps, reduce severe illness and deaths, and break chains of transmission across Bangladesh. (Reporting by Ruma Paul, Editing by Gareth Jones) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

Sept 26 (Reuters) – Eleven people were killed and 30 injured in a blast in Dera Ismail Khan in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, emergency service Rescue 1122 said. Dera Ismail Khan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near Pakistan’s border regions with Afghanistan, has repeatedly been hit by Islamist militant violence, frequently targeting police and security forces. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack. The blast occurred near Aman Mela in the Darazinda area of the district, Rescue 1122 said in a statement. Rescue teams from the Darazinda station reached the scene and began relief operations, providing medical assistance to the wounded and taking them to hospital, the service said. Security incidents have continued in the district this month, including attacks involving the Pakistani Taliban. (Reporting by Ariba Shahid; Writing by Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

By Brendan O’Boyle, Lais Morais and Marcela Ayres SAO PAULO/BRASILIA, Sept 26 (Reuters) – From the butcher’s shop where he works near Sao Paulo’s historic center, Kleyton Zacarioto says customer traffic has been slowing for years thanks, he says, to a long period of rising food prices.  The prolonged squeeze on household budgets has turned the 39-year-old against leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s bid for a fourth term in next month’s election. Zacarioto says Lula is the only candidate he knows he will not vote for, though he recognized the president “did good things” when he was first in office in the 2000s. “Someone who earns a minimum wage has no way to get ahead,” he said. The 80-year-old Lula is asking voters for patience, while touting record low unemployment, falling inequality, and recent months of easing inflation to argue the economy is better than it seems. But Zacarioto’s frustration reflects a challenge that has dogged incumbents around the world since the pandemic: persuading voters that improving economic indicators matter when many still feel squeezed by years of higher prices. “I know it’s still not great, but I guarantee inflation will stay under control,” Lula promised in a recent campaign spot, saying he knew what it was like to not make end’s meet. For months, polls have shown a neck-and-neck race between Lula and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who was barred from the race after being convicted of an attempted coup. Polls suggest the economy is one of the main reasons Lula has struggled to fend off Senator Bolsonaro.  Nearly half of Brazilians say the economy has gotten worse in the past year, according to a Quaest poll published in September, compared to just 19% who say the economy improved. Senator Bolsonaro has made concerns that paychecks do not stretch as far as they once did a centerpiece of his campaign, frequently contrasting current supermarket prices with those during his father’s presidency. Lula’s campaign has pushed back with a website dubbed “Market of Lies” to dispute the claims. It has also filed a complaint in the Superior Electoral Court, which oversees elections in Brazil, accusing the senator’s campaign of lying about prices. THE ‘VIBECESSION’ HITS BRAZIL Experts say the debate over the cost of living reflects a gap between improving labor and inflation measures and what many households experience day to day. “All the big figures say that this has been a good government,” said Thomas Traumann, a political analyst and author. “The fact is that everyday folks just don’t agree with that.” Traumann drew comparisons to US President Joe Biden’s struggles in 2024 to bridge a disconnect among voters between positive macroeconomic data and negative consumer sentiment, a moment economics commentator Kyla Scanlon dubbed the “vibecession.” “The government has achievements it can point to, but voters are asking how much of those gains have made it into their own households,” said Felipe Nunes, founder and CEO of the pollster Quaest. “Voters judge the economy by their ability to pay bills, consume goods and services, and achieve their personal goals.” Food prices and rising debt burdens help explain why many families have seen little improvement in their post-pandemic spending power. While food inflation has slowed sharply — and prices even fell in June to August — years of steep price increases continue to strain household budgets, with prices remaining well above pre-pandemic levels.  At the same time, household debt service excluding mortgages reached a record 26.6% of income in June, according to central bank data, as fast-growing fintechs offered easy credit at steep interest rates and a boom in online betting absorbed billions of reais of household income, pushing many families into financial distress. The burden has been exacerbated by Brazil’s 13.75% benchmark interest rate, one of the highest real rates in the world, which the central bank has gradually started to lower while keeping a close eye on inflation. “If you look at labor-market data, poverty indicators and the expansion of the middle class, you see a picture of significant progress in recent years,” said Marcelo Neri, an economist at Fundacao Getulio Vargas. “But when you factor in cumulative food inflation, interest rates and online betting, the result is, let’s say, a draw with a lot of goals scored on both sides.” SKEPTICAL VOTERS Lula has tried to react. With two weeks to go before the first round, Lula rolled out measures that seemed aimed at boosting disposable income, including a 15% increase in a landmark welfare program, which will take effect before the second round of the elections in late October. He also announced an executive order banning online betting from October 6. But polls suggest the measures have yet to make a meaningful impact on voter sentiment. Back at the market, Carlos Alves da Silva has spent 15 years at the Barraca do Juca produce stand, its walls papered with posters showing the 1990s soap opera filmed there. He says it will not survive to 2028 if Lula wins. “It’s just a matter of taking on debt and scrambling to pay it off the following month,” said Alves, who supports Senator Bolsonaro. Candidates have tried to show a path forward. Senator Bolsonaro is campaigning on lower food costs through tax cuts, better transport links, expanded grain storage and higher domestic fertilizer production. Lula points to growing farm output, government food stocks, and expanded rural credit. But those proposals have yet to resonate with many Brazilians. Conceicao Melquiades, visiting the market from Manaus, who is struggling to keep up with rising electricity and grocery prices, said she hasn’t seen any “real proposals” from the candidates. “In the end not much is going to change.” (Reporting by Brendan O’Boyle and Lais Morais in Sao Paulo and Marcela Ayres in Brasilia; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; editing by Manuela Andreoni and Aurora Ellis) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

(New York, NY) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is pointing out the reasons Americans may be turning against Israel. This as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defends his country’s actions at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Speaking to NewsNation, Huckabee claimed social media disinformation and foreign propaganda could be reasons for America’s rising dissatisfaction toward Israel. He also said it could be a lack of what he called a lack of “biblical literacy” and hatred towards those who believe that “there is a God and that he’s made up the rules for life.” Huckabee said these people “just want to be mad at Israel and blame them for everything.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com