More than 5 million people have been affected by monsoons that have brought flash flooding to areas of southern Pakistan. Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has cancelled a trip to attend the United Nations in New York in order to co-ordinate emergency aid for flood victims, a move indicative of the situation’s seriousness. Sindh province, one of the worst hit areas in last year’s floods, has been badly affected, with five districts declared ‘calamity areas’ by authorities