Morning Briefing

"United Nations humanitarian agencies have begun to assist communities in southern Pakistan that have been pummeled by monsoon rains which have claimed the lives of almost 200 people and destroyed or damaged nearly one million homes in an area still recovering from last year's catastrophic floods," the U.N. News Centre reports. The U.N. and the Pakistan government "have begun a rapid needs assessment in Sindh, with shelter, food, water, sanitation, hygiene and health care expected to be the priorities," the news service writes (9/10).