Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari postponed his official visits to four European countries in view of calamities across Pakistan caused by the ongoing heavy monsoon rains and flooding, a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry said.
The foreign minister was set to depart on a four country-trip including Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway in a bid to strengthen Pakistan’s engagement with Europe and share its perspective on regional and global issues from August 22-26.
According to the statement, Bilawal delayed his visits due to the heavy damages to lives and property caused by the torrential rains in the country.
The foreign minister is looking forward to his interactions with his counterparts, other dignitaries and media, as part of Pakistan’s continued engagement with Europe.
FM Bilawal's visits to these capitals will be rescheduled at mutually agreed later dates in consultation with the host governments, said the ministry.
Popovici had eased into the final earlier with a new European record of 46.98 seconds but today the 17-year-old Romanian double world champion swam 46.86sec.
In June, Popovici became the first man to complete the 100-200m freestyle double at the World Championships in nearly 50 years.
(AFP)
David Popovici broke the men's 100m freestyle world record to win gold at the European Championships in Rome.
The 17-year-old Romanian double world champion swam 46.86sec on Saturday to slice 0.05sec off the old mark set by Brazilian Cesar Cielo in the same pool at the 2009 World Championships in the era of buoyant body suits.
The fastest time in a textile suit had been 46.96 set by American Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel at the 2019 World Championships.
Hungary's Kristof Milak was second on Saturday with Italy's Alessandro Miressi third.
Popovici had eased into the final on Friday with a new European record of 46.98 seconds.
Only two other swimmers managed to dip under 48sec on Friday, Milak and Miressi in the other semi-final, but both were some way off Popovici.
In June, Popovici became the first man to complete the 100-200m freestyle double at the World Championships in nearly 50 years.
In a golden summmer, he also won three European junior titles in his home town of Bucharest.
The fastest 100 freestyle in history by the 17-year-old phenom David Popovici. 46.86. Absolutely insane.pic.twitter.com/NDYQiPXalC
Another 17-year-old world champion also added European gold on Saturday.
Italian Benedetta Pilato won the women's 100m breaststroke in 1:05.97, more than a second-and-half outside the world record set by American Lilly King in 2017.
Pilato was followed home by compatriot Lisa Angiolini and Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte, the 50m world champion.
Pilato imitated her compatriot Federico Poggio, who won the men's 200m breaststroke on Friday.
Italy with the 1️⃣, 2️⃣ finish!
Benedetta Pilato led the Women's 100m Breaststroke heats to qualify with a time of 1:05.77 🇮🇹
Swedish veteran Sarah Sjostrom won the women's 50m butterfly gold for the fifth time in 24.96. The 28-year-old is the only woman to go under 25 seconds in the events in a 50m pool.
France's Marie Wattel won silver in 25.33 with Maaike de Waard of the Netherlands a distant third in 25.62.
Frenchman Yohann Ndoye Brouard won the opening final of the evening when he took the men's 200m backstroke in 1 min 55.62 sec.
Ndoye Brouard had to swim his semi-final twice on Friday because of a problem with his starting block and ended up qualifying on time in an empty pool.
He beat Hungary's Benedek Kovacs in 1:56.03 and England's Luke Greenbank (1:56.15).
The EU introduced new plant and health safety requirements as ships were already at sea carrying hundreds of containers full of fruit to Europe, resulting in them being held up on arrival.
Europe is the largest market for South Africa's almost $2 billion citrus industry, accounting for 37 percent of all exports, according to the CGA.
(AFP Archive)
Millions of boxes of oranges have been spoiling in containers stranded at European ports as South Africa and the European Union lock horns in a dispute over import rules.
South Africa, the world's second largest exporter of fresh citrus after Spain, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last month after the EU introduced new plant and health safety requirements that orange farmers say threaten their survival.
The measures came into force in July as ships were already at sea carrying hundreds of containers full of South African fruit to Europe, resulting in them being held up on arrival, South Africa's Citrus Growers' Association (CGA) says.
The EU rules aim at tackling the potential spread of an insect called the false codling moth, a pest native to sub-Saharan Africa that feeds on fruits including oranges and grapefruits.
The new measures require South African farmers to apply extreme cold treatment to all Europe-bound oranges and keep the fruits at temperatures of two degrees Celsius (35 degrees Fahrenheit) or lower for 25 days.
But the CGA says this measure is unnecessary as the country already has its own, more targeted way of preventing infestation.
In its WTO complaint, South Africa argued that the EU requirements were "not based on science", more restrictive than necessary and "discriminatory".
South African citrus growers say the requirement puts undue extra pressure on an industry already in dire straits.
"This is going to add a lot of costs... and at the moment, that is what no grower in the world can afford," said Hannes de Waal, who heads of the almost 100-year-old farm Sundays River Citrus.
De Waal, whose company has orange, clementine and lemon trees straddling 7,000 hectares near the southeastern coast city of Gqeberha, said revenues were already squeezed by high shipping and fertiliser costs.
Freight costs have rocketed since Covid-19 struck, and so has the price of fertilisers due to the Ukraine conflict — Russia being one of the world's largest producers.
