Day: July 9, 2021

The mayor of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, has died of COVID-19, an official said on Friday.

“It is my sad duty to confirm that the Executive Mayor, Cllr Geoffrey Makhubo, has indeed succumbed to Covid-19,” Eunice Mgcina, the acting executive mayor, said in a statement.

Makhubo, 53, died on Friday morning, a week after he was admitted to hospital with COVID-19 complications.

“We had hoped that the Executive Mayor would beat the virus and return to work and lead the city as we face this pandemic that has devastated lives and livelihoods,’’ Mgcina said.

COVID-19 infections have spiked in South Africa in the past two months.

On Thursday, the country recorded 22,910 new COVID-19 cases bringing the total number of registered cases to more than 2.13 million, the highest on the continent.

South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD) said Thursday’s cases represented a 30.4% positivity rate.

Some 460 deaths were also reported in the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 63,499.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Iranian authorities have told traders to stop sending shipments to the country’s two main border crossings with neighboring Afghanistan that have been overrun by Taliban fighters.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced in a statement on Friday that trade has been halted through the Dogharoon and Mahirud border points along the eastern border with Afghanistan.

It came after the Taliban took over the Islam Qala border point, the largest trade route between Afghanistan and Iran, forcing Afghan custom officials and guards to flee across the border.

Islam Qala lies 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Afghanistan’s eastern Herat province in an area considered a Taliban stronghold.

The ambush also disrupted trade activities at Abu Nasar Farahi Port in Afghanistan’s western Farah province, along the Iranian border.

However, trade between the two countries remained unaffected through the border crossing in Milak in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, according to IRICA.

The Taliban ambush on Thursday started hours after talks between a delegation from the group’s political office in Qatar and Afghan government representatives concluded in Tehran.

Reports said the insurgents attacked Afghan customs and border forces stationed on the crossing with Iran, triggering fierce fighting between the two sides.

Officials of Herat’s customs department later confirmed in a statement that Islam Qala and Torghundi, which connects Afghanistan with Turkmenistan, had both fallen to the Taliban.

As the US-led coalition forces pull out of the war-ravaged country after 20 years, the Taliban have upped the ante with attacks in different parts of Afghanistan.

After overrunning many districts in the north and east, they reached Afghanistan’s border with Iran on Thursday.

It happened as Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem said the two sides holding talks in Tehran agreed that “war was not a solution” to the crisis in Afghanistan.

According to sources, Iranian officials asserted during the talks that border security was a “red line” that the Taliban must not breach.

On Friday, on the second leg of their regional tour in Moscow, Taliban officials pledged to respect borders of neighboring countries, according to a statement from Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

Source: Anadolu Agency

World no. 1 in tennis Novak Djokovic will take on Matteo Berrettini in the 2021 Wimbledon men’s singles final on Sunday.

Serbian superstar Djokovic eliminated his Canadian opponent Denis Shapovalov with the sets of 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 7-5 in the semifinals on Friday.

The 2019 champion at Wimbledon, Djokovic is seeking his 20th Grand Slam title.

In addition to the 2019 championship, Djokovic claimed Wimbledon titles in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2018.

In 2020, Wimbledon was not held due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Djokovic, 34, has won nine Australian Open titles, include the one in 2021, two French Open titles (2016 and 2021) and three US Open titles (2011, 2015 and 2018).

Berrettini, 25, will play his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon against Djokovic on Sunday.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Rwanda on Friday said it has deployed 1,000 personnel of army and police force to Mozambican restive Cabo Delgado province to help combat terrorism.

In a statement, the government announced the forces were deployed at the request of the government of Mozambique.

An armed insurgency with its origin in the wider socio-economic and political disparity has kept Mozambique smoldering since 2017.

Peace had remained elusive in the Southern African country with vast natural resources even after the end of the 15-year long civil war in 1992.

Rwanda’s deployment comes days after leaders of the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) resolved to deploy a military force to Mozambique to help the government combat terrorism and acts of violent extremism.

The Rwandan joint force will work closely with Mozambique armed forces and forces from the Southern African Development Community in designated sectors of responsibility, the statement said.

SADC has set a $12 million budget for the deployment of the “alert force”. Mozambique will establish headquarters in the northern port city of Nacala for the regional force.

The government said the deployment is based on the good bilateral relations between Rwanda and Mozambique following the signing of several agreements in 2018.

Last year, Rwanda deployed force protection troops to the Central African Republic under a bilateral agreement on defense.

Analysts say the deployment is a welcome development even when there seems to be a lot of uncertainty over the operation mandate of the SADC force.

“Quick military intervention can deal and manage insurgency,” Freddie David Egesa, a Uganda-based security analyst, had told Anadolu Agency in a recent interview.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s president on Friday slammed the PKK terror group and People’s Democratic Party (HDP), called them “exploiters” and the “worst thing to befall to region and Kurdish people in 1,000 years.”

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of an irrigation system and 30 factories in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “The PKK have killed or abducted over 50,000 people in the past 40 years. They have the blood of our brothers and sisters on their hands,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan asserted that the PKK and its associated terrorist organizations were guilty of “crimes against humanity” for abducting 13-14 year-old girls to the region’s mountains and abusing children.

“The PKK is the top slayer of Kurdish lives. The PKK is the reason why villages are evacuated or burned down,” he said.

He also accused the HDP of supporting terrorists while also “talking about peace, democracy, and brotherhood without feeling any embarrassment.”

Erdogan said: “In which democracy does an elected member of parliament, or an elected mayor or party leadership, go and report to terror group members? In which democracy are funds sent by the state for investments and services used to lay mines on the roads?”

“Every attempt against a country (by the PKK) is supported by politicians. They aren’t real supporters of democracy. They are enemies and abusers of democracy,” he added.

Erdogan underlined that the PKK and HDP’s “hidden agenda and ill intentions” ended a peace process that lasted from 2013 until 2015.

He also announced that Diyarbakir Prison, “which has been long associated with cruelty, torture, and inhumane acts,” would be turned into a cultural center.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

The Turkish government says the HDP has links to the PKK terror group, and prosecutors have filed a suit with the nation’s highest court to shut the party down.

Earlier in the day, President Erdogan had paid a visit to families protesting the PKK for abducting or forcibly recruiting their children. The families also accuse the HDP of complicity in their children’s abduction or deception to join the PKK.

The protests outside the office of the HDP started in September 2019 with three mothers who said their children had been forcibly recruited by the terrorists.

Speaking to the families, Erdogan voiced support for their cause and said both the Interior Ministry and other authorities would continue to work on reuniting them with their children.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Four YPG/PKK terror suspects were arrested in different parts of Turkey on Friday.

Three suspects, all of them Syrian nationals who had entered Turkey illegally, were nabbed in simultaneous operations in the southern Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Mersin provinces, according to a statement by the Osmaniye security directorate.

A fourth suspect was apprehended in the Marmaris district of the southwestern Mugla province.

The individual had been sentenced to 40 years in prison and was trying to flee to Greece, said a source, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Another person, who was aiding in the suspect’s escape bid, was also arrested but is not believed to be linked to the terror group, the source said.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz

Source: Anadolu Agency

The US Federal Reserve said upside risks to the inflation outlook in the near-term have increased, according to its Monetary Policy Report published on Friday.

“Temporary upward pressure on inflation has come from prices for goods experiencing supply chain bottlenecks, such as motor vehicles and appliances,” the Fed said in its report that is submitted semiannually to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and to the House Committee on Financial Services.

The Federal Open Market Committee “reaffirms its judgment that inflation at the rate of 2% as measured by the annual change in the price index for personal consumption expenditures (PCE), is most consistent over the longer run with the Federal Reserve’s statutory mandate,” it added.

Although the Fed has repeatedly said during the pandemic it would allow inflation to hover above its 2% target to support coronavirus-hit American economy, PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator, soared 3.9% in May year-over-year.

While producer price index jumped 6.6% in May, from the same month last year, consumer price index increased 5% year-over-year.

“Increased import prices also contributed to the step-up in consumer price inflation in the first half of 2021, boosted by commodity prices, which rose in response to strong demand for goods,” the report said.

With rapid normalization from the pandemic and rising global energy demand, oil prices have recently soared to their highest levels in three years.

The Fed signaled on June 16 that it would raise interest rates two times in 2023, by 0.25% each, but the bank has been muted about when to end its $120 billion a month asset purchase program that supports the US economy.

The report said FOMC needs to see “progress [that] can be judged substantial enough to warrant a change in the pace of asset purchases.”

“The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet has grown to $8.1 trillion from $7.4 trillion at the end of January, reflecting continued asset purchases to help foster smooth market functioning and accommodative financial conditions, thereby supporting the flow of credit to households and businesses,” it added.

The central bank also noted that strong corporate earnings, optimism about the pace of vaccinations, additional fiscal stimulus, and signs of a faster pace of economic recovery have outweighed concerns about higher inflation.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey administered a total of 827,975 COVID-19 vaccine shots over the past day, according to official figures released on Friday.

The country has administered over 57 million vaccine doses since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to the Health Ministry.

More than 37.45 million people have received their first doses, while over 16.77 million got their second does.

Moreover, 2.7 million people received their third doses.

To date, 60.35% of the country’s adult population has received at least one vaccine dose.

The ministry also confirmed 5,670 new coronavirus infections and 59 related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 5,126 more patients recovered.

In a Twitter post, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca urged people to get vaccinated at the earliest.

“The number of cases has started to increase in provinces where the vaccination rate is low,” he warned.

Amid a nationwide fall in virus cases and an expedited inoculation drive, Turkey has entered a new normalization phase, lifting almost all virus-related restrictions.

However, seeking to limit the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant, it has suspended flights from Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, passengers from the UK, Iran, Egypt, and Singapore are required to have a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours prior to their flight.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.01 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 185.78 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The UN Security Council on Friday voted to extend one more year the authorization of the cross-border mechanism for the delivery of humanitarian aid into Syria through Turkey.

The council mandate for the operation was due to expire Saturday.

Bab al-Hawa crossing in Syria is the only remaining cross-border supply route from Turkey to Syria’s last opposition-held territory, Idlib.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the mechanism is “a lifeline for over 3.4 million Syrians in need”.

On the vote at the Council, Head of Amnesty International’s UN office Sherine Tadros said the UN resolution falls short of humanitarian needs and Russia was ignoring needs of Syrian people.

“This compromise resolution is once again an example of Russia ignoring the humanitarian needs of Syrians, and instead playing political games with the lives and welfare of millions of people,” said Tadros.

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, hailed the resolution, saying “The humanitarian agreement we’ve reached here will literally save lives”.

Source: Anadolu Agency