Day: July 9, 2021

The Phoenix Suns have taken a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals with a 118-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Suns’ Jae Crowder and Deandre Ayton both notched up double-doubles at Phoenix’s Talking Stick Resort Arena late Thursday.

Crowder scored 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Ayton boasted 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Devin Booker was the highest scorer of his team with 31 points and six assists.

Mikal Bridges finished with 27 points and seven rebounds.

For the losing side, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 42 points and 12 rebounds were not enough to avoid a loss in Game 2.

Jrue Holiday racked up 17 points and seven assists. Pat Connaughton came off the bench to add 14 points and seven rebounds.

Game 3 will be played on Sunday at the Bucks’ home ground, Fiserv Forum.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkish security forces nabbed 231,652 suspects in counter-narcotic operations across the country in 2020, according to a report by Turkey’s General Directorate of Security.

The report, prepared by the Department of Combating Narcotic Crimes, indicated that Turkish police units conducted 159,268 counter-narcotic operations and interventions, up 7% from 2019.

In the operations and interventions, 231,652 suspects were caught by Turkish security forces, up 5.3% compared to the previous year.

Turkish security forces seized 13.7 tons of heroin, 93.7 tons of marijuana and skunk (a type of chemical marijuana), 1.9 tons of cocaine, around four tons of methamphetamine and over 11 million ecstasy pills.

Additionally, over 2 million Captagon pills and 1.7 tons of bonzai were seized by Turkish forces in 2020.

– Financial resource of terrorism: drug trafficking

The illegal drug trade is an important financial resource for all kinds of criminal organizations, and it is difficult to make estimations about the financial dimension of this activity, which is carried out in secrecy in different regions and markets at the global level, according to the report.

It was noted that terrorist organizations including the PKK/KCK/PYD, DHKP/C, TKP/ML and FETO have a close relationship with drug smuggling.

The report revealed the relationship of these terrorist organizations with all stages of drug trafficking through intelligence reports, investigations by law enforcement officers, academic studies and open source searches.

– PKK/KCK/PYD terror group dealt major blow

Units of the Turkish General Directorate of Security conducted 464 operations against the PKK/KCK/PYD terror group between 1980-2020 and arrested 1,497 suspects.

In these operations, Turkish security forces seized over 96 tons of marijuana, 5.4 tons of heroin, 71 kilograms (156 pounds) of opium, 4.3 tons of morphine base and 9.4 kilograms (20 pounds) of cocaine.

In addition, 137,851 ecstasy pills, 72 Captagon pills, 28,348 liters of acetic anhydride and over 121 million cannabis roots were seized by security forces.

In the same period, 975 suspects were detained and 244,835 kilograms (539,768 pounds) of cannabis and nearly 223 million cannabis roots were seized in 193 operations carried out by Gendarmerie General Command units against the terrorist organization PKK’s revenue from illegal drug cultivation.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Police in Haiti have arrested 17 suspects in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, including two Haitian Americans and 15 Colombians, officials said Thursday.

President Moise was killed Wednesday in an armed attack at his private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince by a group of gunmen who authorities say spoke Spanish and English.

Haiti’s first lady, Martine Moise, who was wounded in the attack, was transferred to a hospital in Miami, Florida, where she is being treated.

The group of men that killed Moise consisted of two Americans and 26 Colombians, according to information provided at a press conference Thursday by the director of the Haitain National Police, Leon Charles.

“We have arrested 15 Colombians and two Americans of Haitian origin. Three Colombians have been killed, while eight others are on the loose,” Charles said.

Officials had said earlier that four of the suspects had been killed.

The American men have been identified as Joseph Vincent and James Solages, both of Haitian descent.

Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, described the men as “well-trained professionals, killers, commandos.”

Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano said Thursday that the suspects were former members of the army.

“In response to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, Interpol has requested information today from the Haitian government about the alleged perpetrators of the assassination. Initially, the information indicates that they are Colombian citizens, retired members of the national army.”

Authorities have launched an investigation into how the suspects arrived in the country, but it is possible that they entered through the border with the Dominican Republic.

The recent events have plunged the country into a leadership crisis. Moise, 53, took office in 2017 after a contested election. After failing to hold elections, the opposition had been demanding him to step down.

Only a day before his death, Moise had appointed a new prime minister, who was due to take office this week. Haiti is scheduled to hold presidential and legislative elections on Sept. 26.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s current account balance posted a deficit of $3.08 billion in May, down $919 million from the same month last year, the Turkish Central Bank announced on Friday.

According to balance of payments figures released by the bank, the country’s 12-month rolling deficit totaled almost $31.86 billion.

An Anadolu Agency survey this week showed that a group of 15 economists’ projections for the May current account deficit ranged from $1.2 billion to $3.35 billion, with the median at $2.72 billion.

The survey also projected that the end-2021 current account balance will have a $25.8 billion deficit.

In April, the current account posted a $1.71 billion deficit.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is set to arrive in Turkey on Friday at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Relations between Turkey and Palestine will be discussed in all aspects during Abbas’ three-day visit, said Turkey’s Communications Directorate in a statement.

Among the topics of discussion are ways to boost bilateral cooperation, the humanitarian situation in Palestine, and the latest developments in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Also expected to be on the agenda are reconciliation between various Palestinians groups as well as long-anticipated elections in Palestine.

The elections had been set for this summer but were postponed in April over a dispute in voting in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Seven years ago, when freelance Palestinian photojournalists Yasser Mortaja and Roshdi Sarraj decided to cover the Gaza War, they had no assurances they would ever survive the experience.

The war began on July 8, 2014, when Israel launched a ground assault in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

According to Amnesty International, a global human rights watchdog, over the next 50 days Israeli forces fired tens of thousands of artillery and tank shells into densely populated residential areas and conducted airstrikes killing more than 2,500 people, mostly civilians across the Gaza Strip.

Dodging bullets and mortars raining around them, they began covering the war from day one. On July 20, they joined a civil defense team that was heading to the east of the city in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood which was witnessing heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters.

While Mortaja is no more as he got killed in 2018 when he was 30 years old, Sarraj, 29, lives with the memories of the war and the works of his friend.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency from his home in Gaza, Sarraj said they saw civil defense teams removing the debris of residential houses, devasted by the aerial bombing and shells to find people.

Such was the destruction that Mortaja, who was born in the neighborhood, was unable to recognize the landmarks.

Their presence in the heart of the battlefield led them to document and click memorable pictures of the rescue of Mohammad Daher, his wife Shyamaa, and sister Beesan then nine-year-old from the debris of their bombed home.

“Since the moment he (Mortaja) clicked the paramedic getting Beesan out of the rubble, his strong, warm and safe relationship with Daher family also began,” said Sarraj.

– 50 days of death and destruction

Both the photographers spent 50 days together covering one of the dangerous wars in the world.

Both of them had earlier covered Israeli operations in 2012 as well.

“The coverage wasn’t easy because we were all the time living the challenge between the full coverage that we should do and the concerns of losing one of us if we were apart, covering from different locations,” said the photographer.

After Beesan was recovered from the debris, both the photojournalists used to visit her frequently to get her out of trauma, as she had lost her parents, brother, and sister.

After the 50-day war, Mortaja gifted a camera to Beesan, as he had begun to treat her as his sister.

In 2012, Mortaja and Sarraj had teamed up to document daily life in the Gaza strip from various perspectives. Besides covering 2012 and 2014 Israeli military operations, they also covered peaceful protests along the borders of the Gaza strip in 2018.

It was during one of these peaceful protests that Mortaja breathed last when he was shot by Israeli soldiers.

“Unfortunately, the ambitious and kind young man did not stay here long. We lost him early,” said a sobbing Sarraj, while describing the death of his friend.

While both of them had dodged the death together since 2012, Mortaja ultimately left alone. Sarraj at times feels that his friend is still around with his smiles and memories.

– Continuing message of Mortaja

His death even sent Beesan once again to isolation.

“She’s afraid of any new relationship and is not accepting us as friends because she is concerned about the possibility of losing us,” said Sarraj.

During the 2021 Gaza War Sarraj missed his friend.

“This was the first war since Mortaja was not around with me. It was not easy to understand that he is not here,” said Sarraj, who wore his friend’s vest marked press and camera, while taking pictures during the recently concluded war.

Both of them over the years had built a team of photojournalists, who also missed their leader, who had a keen eye on details.

“He was our eye on the field, and during the latest war my eyes were on the camera to cover and on his memories to continue his message to the world,” said Sarraj.

Mortaja’s work has been acclaimed across the world. Sarraj said that his friends and the team he had cobbled up continue to carrying the message of deceased photojournalists to document and tell the world the real story of Gaza.

Source: Anadolu Agency

South Korea on Friday announced toughest COVID-19 restrictions after the country reported a record of over 1,300 new cases, the highest single-day tally since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to local media.

The country’s Level 4 guidelines, which are the highest coronavirus restrictions, will go into effect from Monday for two weeks in the capital Seoul, the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and the western port city of Incheon, Yonhap News Agency reported.

All entertainment centers, including nightclubs, will be shut down, while restaurants will be allowed to serve dine-in customers until 10 p.m.

Gatherings of three or more people were also banned and nighttime curfew after 10 p.m. will be imposed on facilities used by unspecified individuals, according to the report.

The new restrictions came after the country reported 1,316 new infections in the past 24 hours, the highest daily number since the pandemic hit South Korea last year in January.

So far, South Korea has registered 164,028 cases and 2,036 deaths, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

On Thursday, a senior South Korean health official Jeong Eun-kyeong said the country “is at a stage of entering the fourth wave” and the worst is yet to come.

In the worst-case scenario, the nation’s daily new infections could stand at 2,140 late this month, Jeong warned.

The rapid spread of the Delta variant is believed to be the reason for the recent surge in infections.

The highly transmissible COVID-19 variant was first identified in India, where it sparked one of the worst crises seen throughout the pandemic, with hundreds of thousands of infections and thousands of deaths recorded in the South Asian country for days.

Source: Anadolu Agency

At least 40 Myanmar troops were reportedly killed last week in clashes with anti-junta forces.

The troops were killed in two separate armed clashes, both in the northwestern Sagaing region, the People’s Defense Force (PDF) said Thursday in a statement.

Three military trucks were also destroyed by PDF fighters, the statement added.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is reported to have assisted the PDF in the clashes.

Myanmar’s military on Feb. 1 ousted President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, detaining them along with other senior members of the pre-coup ruling National League for Democracy party, citing “election fraud.” The claims have been rebuffed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The main session of the 16th round of Astana talks on Syria was held in Kazakhstan on Thursday with the attendance of representatives of the regime and opposition forces.

The talks, which were initiated on Wednesday with bilateral and trilateral meetings of the guarantor countries — Turkey, Russia and Iran — in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan, continued for a second day between all parties.

Among the topics of discussion were the current situation on the ground in Syria, delivery of humanitarian aid, and the resumption of the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva, meetings of which began in October 2019 with 150 members and are the first concrete step to draft a new constitution to determine Syria’s future.

The parties also talked about confidence-building measures such as the exchange of prisoners, the release of hostages and the search for missing persons.

Ambassador Selcuk Unal, the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s director general responsible for Syria, chaired the talks in Nur-Sultan.

Russia is represented by Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev and Iran by Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior advisor to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, while the Syrian regime joined the meeting with a delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Susan and the opposition with a delegation headed by Ahmad Tuma.

Also taking part in the meetings, which are being attended by UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, are Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan — the neighboring countries of Syria — with observer status.

Following Wednesday’s meetings, Pedersen told reporters that it is important to ensure stable talks between the relevant parties for the resumption of the committee’s work.

The 16th meeting of the Astana peace process had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Syria has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters with unexpected ferocity.

The Astana peace process to end the conflict was launched in January 2017 at the initiative of Turkey, Russia and Iran.

Meetings of Astana guarantors also contribute to the advancement of the UN-led diplomatic process in Geneva.

*Writing by Sena Guler and Beyza Binnur Donmez in Ankara

Source: Anadolu Agency