Qatar's Islamic affairs ministry has urged the Gulf emirate's citizens to pray for rain after a scorching summer. Qatar sweltered through its hottest summer since records began this year, with shade temperatures topping 45C at its peak. Cereal output in the sub-region will amount to around 16 percent lower than in 1998 and 12 percent lower than the average over the last five years. August 98 Heatwave plagues eastern Mediterranean. In the last week of June Romania, together with other countries in the region, was hit by torrential rain, floods, landslides and lightning when an intense heat wave abruptly turned into several days of downpour, swelling rivers and sending waves of mud through hillside villages.
Red squares show current fire sites.
Flooding is spreading the leaking radioactive wastes from Chernobyl. Experts say 80 percent of the radioactive substances from the Chernobyl zone are spread by the Pripyat river which is now in flood. Latest from ReliefWeb . The current situation, which affects the country at large, has the potential to turn into a catastrophe. Independently of the demographic pressure from refugees and clandestine immigration into Djibouti, the mission estimates that 80,000 people are in need, of which 30,000 require immediate assistance.