Day: July 14, 2021

The US national basketball team sealed their first exhibition win ahead of the Tokyo Olympics as they beat Argentina 108-80 late Tuesday.

Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal each added 17 points for the US at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

Zach LaVine scored 15 points, Damian Lillard had 13 and Bam Adebayo contributed with 12 points for the US, which suffered unexpected losses to Nigeria and Australia in their first two exhibition games.

In another exhibition match, Australia beat Nigeria 108-69.

The US – the defending Olympic champions – will face France, Iran, and the Czech Republic in Olympics’ Group A.

The multi-sport event in Japan will take place from July 23 to Aug. 8 after being postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Newly printed 200 Turkish lira and 10 Turkish lira banknotes will go into circulation this Friday, ahead of next week’s Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, said an official announcement.

Compared to earlier versions now in circulation, the new notes will include Governor Sahap Kavcioglu’s and Deputy Governor Emrah Sener’s signatures, the Turkish Central Bank announced on Wednesday.

Except for that change, the new banknotes will be identical to earlier versions in terms of their dimensions, front and back compositions, and general features and appearance.

Earlier versions of the banknotes will remain in circulation. An announcement regarding new issuances of 50 Turkish lira, 20 lira, and 5 lira banknotes will be made at a later date.

Source: Anadolu Agency

At least 12 people, including nine Chinese nationals, were killed in an explosion due to an accident in northern Pakistan on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said amid conflicting reports.

In a statement, it said a bus carrying Chinese workers in Khyber Pakhunkhwa province “plunged into a ravine after a mechanical failure resulting in leakage of gas that caused a blast.”

Chinese workers and accompanying Pakistani staff were proceeding to their workplace for an ongoing project when the incident took place, it added.

The ministry did not give details on the number of injured, but sources said 27 Chinese workers and five locals were also wounded.

Earlier, a local official told Anadolu Agency on the condition of anonymity that the explosion was “apparently carried out through an improvised explosive device” near the construction site of Dasu hydropower project in Upper Kohistan district.

Babar Awan, an adviser to the prime minister on parliamentary affairs, had also condemned the explosion, saying such “cowardly attacks” will not be allowed to impede the development work, according to state-run Radio Pakistan.

The adviser said Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid will brief the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament, on the incident.

The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan confirmed the bus was on its way to the powerplant, saying the Pakistani military sent helicopters to evacuate the wounded.

It condemned the incident, and asked the Chinese citizens in Pakistan to monitor the local security situation closely, strengthen the safety of project personnel, take strict precautions, and do not go out “unless necessary.”

The Dasu hydropower project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 billion project aimed at connect China’s northwestern Xinjiang province to the port of Gwadar in Balochistan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian asked Pakistan to thoroughly investigate the incident, and arrest the perpetrators to protect the safety of Chinese personnel and projects, according to the state-run Global Times newspaper.

Pakistan said it attaches “great importance” to safety and security of Chinese nationals, projects and institutions in Pakistan.

Pakistan is a close ally of China, and a large number of Chinese nationals are based in the country to supervise the infrastructure projects. Pakistan’s army created a special security division for the security of CPEC and its workforce.

In April, a bomb explosion at a luxury hotel in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, killed at least five people. Chinese ambassador Nong Rong was staying at the hotel, but was not present there when the blast occurred. The Tehreek-e-Taliban terrorist group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

In 2018, separatists killed at least four people in an attack on the Chinese consulate in the port city of Karachi.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The US has called on the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) to take joint action to end violence, restore Myanmar’s democracy and release all those unjustly detained.

The call came during US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s first video conference with foreign ministers from the 10-member bloc since he took office in January on Tuesday.

In a statement by his office, Blinken expressed deep concerns about the military coup in the Southeast Asian country and recalled the principles of the ASEAN Charter relating to the rule of law, good governance, democracy, and human rights.

In the Special ASEAN-US Foreign Ministerial Meeting, the secretary also reaffirmed the US commitment to ASEAN centrality and underscored its essential role in the Indo-Pacific’s regional architecture.

He highlighted the country’s rejection of China’s “unlawful” maritime claims in the South China Sea, and reiterated that Washington stands with the Southeast Asian claimants in the face of Chinese “coercion.”

In April, ASEAN leaders called for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar, substantive dialogue among all parties involved, and mediation by a special envoy. But little progress has been made so far.

The Feb. 1 takeover has led to months of demonstrations and a mass civil disobedience movement, which has been met with brutal force. The death toll has risen to 906, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local monitoring group.

Deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi is facing a number of charges including the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, and breaching the Official Secrets Act.

The US has sought to improve relations with ASEAN and pursue collaboration with major democracies in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan, Australia, and India.

China, meanwhile, has provided COVID-19 vaccines to ASEAN countries, and also held a direct meeting with the bloc’s foreign ministers last month.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri said on Wednesday he presented a new cabinet lineup to President Michel Aoun.

Addressing a press conference after his meeting with Aoun, Hariri said the new lineup includes 24 specialist ministers in line with a French initiative.

“For me this government can start to rescue the country and stop the collapse,” Hariri said.

The new formation comes one month after Hariri presented a cabinet proposal that was rejected by Aoun.

Hariri said he hopes to get a response from Aoun on the new cabinet lineup on Thursday.

Lebanon has been unable to form a new government since the resignation of Hassan Diab’s cabinet on Aug. 10, 2020, six days after the massive blast that hit Beirut’s Port.

Hariri announced his new government proposal shortly after he returned from Cairo where he held talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who reiterated his country’s support to the prime minister-designate to form a government in Lebanon.

Over the past months, both Hariri and Aoun exchanged accusations of hindering the government formation with Hariri accusing the Lebanese president and his Hezbollah ally of seeking to obtain one-third of the cabinet seats.

The one-third of cabinet seats means having a veto power over the government’s decisions and policies.

The Arab country is facing a severe economic crisis, with the local currency losing nearly all its value against US dollar. Streets across the country have been blocked by protests and rallies over the crisis, the worst since the country’s civil war.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Iraqi Health Ministry on Wednesday put the death toll from a fire that engulfed the coronavirus isolation ward at Al-Hussein Hospital in southern Iraq at 60.

Earlier reports said that 92 people had died in the blaze in Nasiriya city in Dhi Qar province.

“There are 39 identified victims in the fire in addition to 21 unidentified corpses,” the ministry said in a statement.

Monday’s tragic incident was the second in less than three months.

On April 24, at least 82 people were killed and 110 others injured when a fire broke out at Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital in the capital Baghdad as a result of oxygen cylinder explosion.

Following the incident, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered the arrest of local officials, including the health director of Dhi Qar province, the hospital director and the civil defense chief over the fire.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Fitch Ratings affirmed the US’ credit rating at ‘AAA’ with a negative outlook, according to a statement by the global rating agency.

The rating is supported by structural strengths, which include the size of the American economy, high per capita income and a dynamic business environment, it said on Tuesday.

“The US benefits from issuing the US dollar, the world’s preeminent reserve currency, and from the associated extraordinary financing flexibility, which has been highlighted once again by developments since March 2020,” it said.

The rating agency noted that the US economy has recovered from the coronavirus pandemic much more rapidly than expected, helped by policy stimulus and the rollout of the vaccination program that has allowed economic reopening.

Fitch, however, said the negative outlook reflects ongoing risks to the public finances and debt trajectory. It warned that “debt dynamics currently point to a broad stabilization in the debt ratio at a level where a further meaningful increase could lead to a downgrade.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s Central Bank on Wednesday kept its one-week repo rate — also known as the policy rate — steady at 19%, in line with market expectations.

After the committee’s seventh Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the year, the bank said in a statement: “The strong recovery in the global demand, increasing trend of commodity prices, supply constraints in some sectors and the rise in transportation costs have led to producer and consumer price increases internationally.”

“The effects of the rising global inflation and inflation expectations on international financial markets remain significant,” it added.

A total of 15 economists surveyed by Anadolu Agency last week forecast no change in interest rates.

The bank had also kept its benchmark interest rate constant at 19% in its previous Monetary Policy Committee meeting last month.

Turkey’s annual inflation rate stands at 17.53% in June, according to the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Domestic demand has decreased slightly due to the tightening in financial conditions and restrictions meant to curb coronavirus infections, the bank noted, though adding that external demand remains strong.

“The acceleration of domestic vaccination rollout facilitates the recovery in services and tourism sectors, which have been adversely affected by the pandemic, and leads to a more balanced composition in economic activity,” it added.

The bank stressed that the tight monetary policy in place has positively affected the current account balance, which is expected to go into surplus for the rest of the year.

“Taking into account the high levels of inflation and inflation expectations, the current tight monetary policy stance will be maintained decisively until the significant fall in the April Inflation Report’s forecast path is achieved.”

It underlined that the bank will continue to use its instruments for price stability.

‘Q4 might be earliest to see interest cut’

Cristian Maggio, head of emerging market strategy at Canadian-based TD Securities, stressed that inflation dynamics in Turkey still appear adverse, saying that for the time being, “I see it very hard to deliver easing in August as well.”

If the bank is leaning towards a cut in August, it will need to start signaling it this week, he noted, adding: “Q4 is probably the earliest that the CBRT (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey) may cut.”

“The headline inflation climbed markedly to 17.5% year-on-year in June, well exceeding expectations,” recalled Phoenix Kalen, emerging markets strategy director at the Paris-based Societe Generale.

“We expect unchanged rates by November and have penciled in a 100 basis points rate cut in the fourth quarter,” he said.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Industrial production in Europe showed a significant improvement in May compared to the same month last year – near the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic to date – the bloc’s statistical authority said on Wednesday.

The figure rose 21.2% year-on-year in the EU27 and 20.5% in the eurozone, Eurostat said in a statement.

The eurozone/euro area, or EA19, represents member states that use the single currency – euro – while the EU27 includes all member countries of the bloc.

Industrial production climbed in all EU countries, with the largest rises seen in Hungary (+40.3%), Slovakia (+36.8%), and Poland (+30.2%).

In the bloc, production of durable consumers rose by 39.1%, capital goods by 29.6%, intermediate goods by 24.2%, non-durable consumer goods by 10.1%, and energy by 7.1%.

Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, industrial output fell 1% in the eurozone and 0.9% in the EU in May.

On Tuesday, the Turkish Statistical Institute announced that Turkey’s industrial production in the month rose 1.3% on a monthly basis and jumped 40.7% annually.

Source: Anadolu Agency