At least eight people were killed on Saturday as Hurricane Grace hit Mexico.

Grace, which reached speeds of up to 200 kilometers meters per hour (125 miles per hour) as a Category 3 storm, hit the state of Veracruz, according to media reports.

The fatalities were a result of heavy rain and destruction caused by the storm.

Officials warned that heavy rains would continue./aa

The Turkish president in a phone call with the German chancellor on Saturday warned of a possible wave of migration if necessary measures are not taken in Afghanistan and Iran.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Angela Merkel discussed the developments in Afghanistan, particularly the issue of migrants, along with regional issues and bilateral relations, according to a statement by Turkey’s Communications Directorate.

Erdogan stressed that a new wave of migration is inevitable if necessary measures are not taken in Afghanistan and Iran.

Turkey, hosting 5 million asylum seekers, cannot handle an additional burden of migration from Afghanistan, he added.

"It is essential to prevent a humanitarian tragedy in the face of migration from Afghanistan and provide urgent assistance to these people in Afghanistan and neighboring countries," he noted.

Turkey also had talks with Iran and increased the measures along the Iranian border, Erdogan said, adding that Europe has important duties to resolve the issue of irregular migration from Afghanistan as soon as possible before it turns into a crisis.

The new government to be established in Afghanistan should be inclusive, representing all Afghan people, he said, stressing that it is important to start talks between the Taliban and Afghan leaders in Kabul on peace and security issues.

Meanwhile, referring to the developments in Afghanistan, Erdogan said: "Turkey can continue to take the responsibility for the security and operating of the Kabul airport under relevant conditions."/aa

SYDNEY (AP) — More than 250 people who were protesting coronavirus lockdowns in Australia were arrested Saturday and many faced fines for defying health orders, authorities said.

At least seven police officers were treated for injuries after skirmishes broke out at some of the protests, which took place in multiple cities nationwide. The largest and most violent protest was in Melbourne. Many were organized by people in encrypted online chat groups.

Sydney has been in lockdown for two months, while Melbourne and the capital, Canberra, went into lockdown earlier this month. Under the rules of the lockdown, people are mostly confined to their homes and have limits placed on their social interactions.

Despite those measures, Sydney's New South Wales state reported a record 825 new daily community infections on Saturday. Several cities are battling outbreaks of the highly contagious delta variant.

Protestors say the lockdowns should end, but authorities say they are necessary to suppress the spread of the virus and save lives.

In Melbourne, a crowd of about 4,000 mostly unmasked protesters let off flares, yelled and blasted music in the central city. Victoria state police arrested 218 people and issued more than 200 fines, each for more than 5,400 Australian dollars ($3,850).

Six Victoria state police officers were hospitalized and three people remained in custody for allegedly assaulting police. Officers used pepper spray on several people, saying in a statement they were left with no choice.

In New South Wales state, police said they arrested 47 people and fined more than 260 in relation to protests across the state. They also issued 137 tickets after stopping around 38,000 cars that were approaching the city.

New South Wales state police said a 32-year-old man who allegedly assaulted an officer was arrested and they expected to file charges. The officer was taken to an area hospital for head and neck injuries, authorities said.

New South Wales Deputy Commissioner Mal Lanyon said police expected to identify more people through CCTV and social media footage.

More than 2,000 people also gathered in Brisbane City Botanic Gardens to rally against the lockdown and vaccine measures, although Queensland state police said they didn't make any arrests.

“Wake up sheeple,” read one sign at the Brisbane protest.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Saturday warned of a critical drinkable water shortage to millions of people in Lebanon.

“Unless urgent action is taken, more than four million people across Lebanon – predominantly vulnerable children and families – face the prospect of critical water shortages or being completely cut off from safe water supply in the coming days," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement.

Last month, the UN agency warned that 71% of Lebanon’s population could run out of water this summer.

Fore noted that vital Lebanese health facilities are out of access to safe water in the light of the prolonged electricity crisis in the country.

"Lebanon could see an increase in waterborne diseases in addition to the surge in COVID-19 cases,” she warned, going on to call for forming a Lebanese government that could conduct required reforms to "ensure access to water and all basic services."

Lebanon is facing a severe economic crisis, with the local currency losing nearly all of its value against the dollar, and streets witnessing massive protests and rallies.

The Arab country has been unable to form a new administration since the resignation of Hassan Diab's Cabinet on Aug. 10, 2020, six days after the massive Beirut port blast./aa

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Saturday warned of the gravity of the health situation in the country due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“The health situation is dangerous,” al-Kadhimi said as he visited a number of schools at the start of final-year exams in the capital Baghdad, according to a statement issued by his office.

The Iraqi premier called for abiding by health protocols to help stem the spread of COVID-19.

In the past few weeks, Iraq has registered an unprecedented rise in the number of virus infections, with 6,000-12,000 cases reported daily.

Iraq’s nationwide tally reached 1,809,376 cases, including 19,958 fatalities, according to Iraqi health authorities.

So far, 2.8 million Iraqis have received the coronavirus vaccine out of the country’s 40 million population./aa

The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns that gripped the world disrupted business and learning at all levels.

It was the same with the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

The Ebola outbreak caused the education of 5 million children to be interrupted.

School closures in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2015 made it difficult for governments to find alternatives for continued education, resulting in many children dropping out of school and joining informal businesses.

The current pandemic has forced most governments around the world to temporarily close educational institutions to contain the spread of the virus, impacting more than 91% of the world’s student population, according to UNESCO.

In Uganda, the Education Ministry said more than 73,000 learning institutions have been closed and as a result, 15 million students and 600,000 refugees are out of school.

With such a huge number out of school indefinitely, COVID-19 threatens to reverse years of educational progress in Uganda. Children have had to struggle with the pain of watching their futures halted and their hopes dashed.

Many who spoke to Anadolu Agency said they have lost morale. Most dropouts end up in the informal sector -- jobs and business activities that are often not registered, including market vendors, fishermen, subsistence farmers and mechanics.

Although the informal sector dominates businesses in Uganda, it is the least exposed to digital literacy due to insufficient requisite skills. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), the informal economy contributed 50% of Uganda’s GDP in 2014.

To trigger recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, the government initiated digital literacy, targeting informal business actors in their workspaces to equip them with skills needed to boost business and improve lives, in line with recommendations by the UN Capital Development Fund.

It also worked with mobile phone operators to reduce fees for digital services and offer complimentary internet data packages to consumers to facilitate cashless transactions.

And it has also seen a boom in e-payment solutions, from about $9 billion to $20 billion in 2019, according to data from the central bank.

“We are prioritizing e-commerce to catalyze innovation, growth and social prosperity in the digital economy,” said Minister for Microfinance Haaruna Kyeyune.

Another e-commerce platform connecting vendors with customers, Safeboda, was launched after the country went on lockdown.

Customers place orders through the app and pay through its mobile wallet feature, then riders based at markets deliver groceries.

“Thanks to the app, I now have more customers than ever before,” Fatuma Abas told Anadolu Agency in Nateete, a Kampala suburb.

The hailing app that has evolved into an e-commerce platform has boosted sales for Abas and hundreds of small traders, benefiting thousands of customers as well.

“By giving market vendors access to the app, it allows them to sell goods while sustaining the livelihoods of about 20,000 riders whose incomes have been affected by the pandemic. Such initiatives boost the capacity of MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) through market-based digital solutions. We need more of them to strengthen e-commerce and digital ecosystems across Africa,” added Kyeyune.

According to the World Bank, Uganda’s real GDP growth in 2020 hovered below 2% compared to almost 5.6% in 2019, due to the pandemic.

There has also been growth in local fintech solutions following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Xente, an e-commerce and financial services mobile app, waived set-up and commission fees for small businesses for three months.

This saw it record a 200% jump in business-to-business turnover, said CEO Allan Rwakatungu./aa