Day: August 16, 2022

The UN proposed on Monday to expand and extend the truce in Yemen beyond Oct. 2 with a four-point plan, including the opening of additional roads in Taiz and regular flow of fuel to the port of Hudaydah.

The Yemeni government and Houthi rebels agreed earlier in the month to extend the truce for an additional two months through Oct. 2. The cease-fire allowed the resumption of commercial flights from the rebel-held Sanaa Airport in the Yemeni capital after six years.

UN envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council that the truce continues to broadly hold in military terms.

“We continue to see a significant decline in civilian casualties, with the first week of August seeing the lowest civilian casualty count since the start of the truce and since the beginning of the war,” he said.

“Most civilian casualties continue to be a result of explosive remnants of warfare, including landmines and unexploded ordnance.”

However, he warned of a rise in child casualties, which now constitute almost 40% of reported civilian casualties.

He also said an expanded agreement would address additional humanitarian and economic issues, and create a more conducive environment for the resumption of peace talks.

The UN proposal for the expanded truce includes regular payment of civil servant salaries and pensions, the opening of additional roads in the southwestern city of Taiz and other governorates, as well as additional destinations to and from Sanaa’s international airport, and the regular flow of fuel to the port of Hudaydah.

Yemen’s civil war began in September 2014, when Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including Sanaa.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered the war in early 2015 to restore the Yemeni government to power.

The eight-year conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with millions risking starvation.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A deadly fire killed at least six workers while huge properties were gutted in a multi-story building in the old part of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on Monday, according to official sources.

“We have recovered six bodies from inside the building as our team doused the blaze nearly after five hours of hectic efforts,” an officer of the headquarters of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense told Anadolu Agency.

According to eyewitnesses and relatives, eight workers were sleeping on the second floor of the building after their night duty during the devastating fire.

“One of them was my brother Bilal Hossain who was a security guard here. Since the fire, I could not contact him as his mobile phone is found switched off,” Mohammad Abdullah, Bilal’s brother, told Anadolu Agency.

He added that out of eight workers, only one managed to come out of the site. “I fear that all of the seven, including my brother have been burnt alive.”

Eyewitnesses and fire service officers said the fire took place at around 12 p.m. local time (0600GMT) Monday and rapidly spread through the whole building in Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area.

“I was sitting on a chair in front of the building and suddenly saw the fire as it flared up so fast, reaching onto the top floor,” a security guard of the three-story building told Anadolu Agency.

He added that there was a restaurant on the ground floor of the building while a plastic factory and a warehouse of plastic raw materials were on the other two floors.

The field investigation also found that on the ground floor of the building there was a big shoe factory alongside the restaurant.

All were found gutted as the deadly fire captured everything until it was controlled by 10 units of fire service and local volunteers.

During the rescue operation, some members of the fire service were also injured.

Illegal plastic factories and flammable settlements

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Md. Kudrat-E-Khuda, the deputy commissioner of police in Old Dhaka’s Lalbag Division, said almost all area was congested with many illegal plastic factories and other flammable settlements, including polythene and shoe factories.

“Some concerned bodies like the City Corporation, police, and government factory inspection division are in combination to check the issue,” Khuda said.

Stressing the need for a permanent solution to the problem, he noted that all concerned authorities should take a combined and conducive plan and drive to immediately remove all illegal factories from this crowded part of the city.

“We do not see any combined drives of the authorities,” Mohammad Habib, a resident of the area, told Anadolu Agency.

Frequent fires

According to analysts, due to weak management and congested structures in the South Asian country of nearly 165 million, deadly fires are frequent.

At least 52 workers at a food processing factory were killed and 35 injured in a fire in the industry-hub district of Narayanganj, the eastern city closest to Dhaka on July 8, 2021.

At least 70 people were killed in a massive blaze that engulfed several multi-story buildings in the old part of Dhaka in 2019. Another fire killed 123 in 2010 in the same area.

In March 2019, a fire killed at least 25 in the upscale Banani area and wounded dozens.

Fire in slums is also very common in Bangladesh. In June, a blaze gutted more than 500 shanties in Dhaka.

Rohingya refugee camps located in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar have also been affected, including a major fire on March 22, 2021, that killed at least 15 and gutted more than 10,000 shanties along with a camp-based Turkish field hospital.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that his opponents are trying to exaggerate the severity of a wave of shootings and arson last week by drug cartels in four states to hurt his administration.

Acts of aggression by drug cartel gunmen were carried out last week against civilians ranging from road blockades and the burning of vehicles and local businesses to the killing of bystanders.

On Aug. 8, Jalisco and Guanajuato states reported attacks in retaliation for the apprehension by Mexico’s military of two prominent leaders of criminal organizations.

Cartel gunmen torched several convenience stores and pharmacies. In some cities, the perpetrators erected blockades to deter the National Guard and military forces from entering the region.

The multinational beverage and retail company FEMSA reported that 25 of its convenience store franchises were set on fire during the attacks.

In addition, a brawl last Thursday between rival gangs at a prison in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez spread to the streets and triggered a wave of attacks against the civilian population, leaving 11 dead and a dozen injured.

In the state of Baja California, authorities said vehicles had been torched by organized crime elements Saturday. According to witnesses, gunmen forced civilians to get out of their cars and set the vehicles on fire.

While Lopez Obrador acknowledged that the murders of innocent civilians in Ciudad Juarez were “very unfortunate and had not happened before,” he accused his political adversaries and media outlets of distorting the violence plaguing the country to discredit his administration.

In response, he said he will start broadcasting his morning press conferences on weekends.

“If we give time to our adversaries, the conservatives, who want us to do badly and are very desperate, nervous, making propaganda, they will use the weekends to manipulate and distort things,” he added.

In addition, during his press conference, Lopez Obrador said that last weekend was one in which the fewest homicides were registered in the country.

“Because of the propaganda, the perception is different, and it also has to do with the interests of those who carried out these actions,” he added.

Lopez Obrador’s administration has been heavily criticized for its public security strategy, which some critics have called out for its alleged military tendencies.

Last week, Lopez Obrador said he would issue a decree that would give complete control of the National Guard to Mexico’s military. The announcement was slammed by human rights activists and his opponents, who argued that the violence in the country cannot be solved with an increased army presence.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The US has held direct talks with the Syrian regime in an effort to secure the release of detained American journalist Austin Tice, the State Department announced on Monday.

Tice has been held in captivity in Syria for 10 years, and State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington has “directly engaged Syrian officials to seek to effect Austin’s return home to his family.”

Price declined to comment on the specifics of the US engagement, including at what levels the efforts have taken place, but said “we will pursue every opportunity to engage if we feel it has the potential to bring Austin home.”

Tice was abducted near Damascus, Syria on Aug. 14, 2012 while covering the country’s civil war as a freelance journalist for multiple US news organizations. A decade later, he has yet to be released and returned to his hometown of Houston, Texas.

On Sept. 26, 2012, nearly six weeks after his abduction, a video emerged showing Tice blindfolded and detained by a group of unidentified armed men. To this day, however, no one has claimed responsibility for his capture.

US President Joe Biden said on Aug. 10 that the US knows “with certainty” that Tice “has been held by the Syrian regime.”

“On the tenth anniversary of his abduction, I am calling on Syria to end this and help us bring him home. There is no higher priority in my Administration than the recovery and return of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad,” he said.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Kenya’s electoral commission announced William Samoei Ruto as the fifth president of the East African nation.

Former US President Donald Trump claimed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took his three passports during a raid of his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida last week as they searched his property for classified documents.

Human rights group Global Witness published a report accusing Facebook of failing to combat election disinformation ads ahead of what is expected to be a tense Brazilian election in October.

A Turkish traveler, Muammer Yilmaz, made a breakthrough, completing an over 100-mile, 11-day Tour du Mont-Blanc hike in Europe without any food supplements.

The US has held direct talks with the Syrian regime in an effort to secure the release of detained American journalist Austin Tice, the State Department announced.

The UN proposed to expand and extend the truce in Yemen beyond Oct. 2 with a four-point plan, including the opening of additional roads in Taiz and the regular flow of fuel to the port of Hudaydah.

Canada came under criticism for the slow pace in bringing Afghan refugees into the country as the Taliban marks one year since taking back control of the beleaguered nation.

China renewed its calls for the international community to engage with the Taliban, Afghanistan’s de facto rulers, one year after the group’s takeover of Kabul.

Five Nordic countries — Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland — announced that they will deepen their security and defense cooperation in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Ukraine expects to receive another $12 billion to $16 billion from its Western partners by the end of this year, the country’s finance minister said.

Russia is calling on the US, EU and other countries to stop the intrigue around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and force Kyiv to stop the shelling of the station, said the country’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Former US President Donald Trump sent a secret letter to then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorizing his controversial annexation plan of Palestinian territories to Israel’s sovereignty, according to Israeli media.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Russian weapons, saying some are “decades ahead of foreign analogues.”

France pulled the last of its troops out of Mali, bringing the country’s Operation Barkhane to an end.

A junta court sentenced Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to six more years in prison.

Amid recent border tensions with Kosovo, Serbia’s president said he is planning to go to Brussels to maintain peace and stability before an upcoming meeting with the Kosovar premier.

Iran said the US administration “verbally agreed” to two Iranian demands for reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman denied his country’s involvement in the recent attack on author Salman Rushdie, saying Tehran knows nothing about the attacker other than what has been reported in American media.

Afghan refugees who sought asylum in the UK after the Taliban took over Afghanistan a year ago have been told to look for private accommodation as the government-funded accommodation scheme winds down.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has admitted that Poland was slow to react to an ecological disaster unfolding in the Oder River, firing two top officials.

A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli police in the town of Kafr Aqab in occupied northern Jerusalem.

South Korea’s president offered economic incentives to rival North Korea in return for denuclearization and vowed to set on track bilateral relations with Japan, local media reported.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Azerbaijan will retake control of the city of Lachin and some villages on the route between Khankendi and Armenia at the end of this month in accordance with a joint declaration signed by Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Russian troops and the Armenian population will leave the areas along the route known as the “Lachin corridor,” where Lachin and the villages of Zabuh and Sus are located and which was temporarily put under Russian control in accordance with the tripartite declaration signed between the three countries on Nov. 10, 2020.

According to the declaration, Azerbaijan would build a new road passing outside Lachin which the Armenian population in Karabakh would use on their way to and from Armenia within three years. Azerbaijan completed the 32-kilometer (20-mile) road earlier than planned.

Russian forces providing security on the route of the old Lachin corridor will also move the checkpoints to the new road.

Lachin and its villages were occupied by the Armenian army in 1992, and then Armenians brought from Syria and Lebanon were settled here in the following years. Throughout the process, Azerbaijan has declared that it sees this as a war crime and violation of the Geneva Conventions.

According to information from the Armenian press and social media, the Armenian population that settled in Lachin and Zabuh and Sus was warned to leave the region by Aug. 25. They will be able to settle in either Armenia or Khankendi and will receive financial assistance from Yerevan.

Although Armenians who leave the region were warned not to burn their homes or harm the environment, images have been circulating on social media showing some Armenians burning their houses and nearby forests.

While both the Armenian and Western press have been portraying Armenians to be expelled from Lachin in a disadvantaged position, they did not touch on the issue of when they settled there and who lived in these lands before. The reports did not include the information that there was no Armenian population there before the occupation and that Azerbaijanis had to leave their homeland.

Speaking to Azerbaijan state television on the evacuation of Armenians from Lachin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said he ordered the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons to contact the original inhabitants of the city of Lachin and the villages of Zabuh and Sus and to start work to return them to their ancestral homeland.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

As new clashes erupted in September 2020, a 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

The fighting ended in November 2020 with a deal brokered by Russia that saw Armenia cede chunks of the territory it had occupied for decades.

In January 2021, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia agreed to develop economic ties and infrastructure for the benefit of the entire region.

Source: Anadolu Agency

British Airways staff will receive a 13% pay rise after significant job cuts brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

The deal was agreed upon by the airline and the Unite union, which represented up to 16,000 staff members ranging from cabin crew to baggage handlers and engineers.

“By standing strong with Unite, our members have compelled BA to table a pay rise that goes toward compensating for the pay cuts suffered during the pandemic,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.

“There is still some way to go for workers at BA to trust this company again, given the hostile manner they conducted themselves during the pandemic. Once again, Unite’s focus on improving jobs, pay and conditions has delivered for our members.”

BA staff members of Unite had threatened to strike if their proposals were not taken into consideration by the airline. However, in July, the union agreed to a deal with BA and averted industrial action.

According to the agreement, the pay rise will be divided into several parts, with workers receiving a lump sum worth 5% of their wages in August, a consolidated 5% pay rise in September and a further 3% consolidated increase in December.

During the pandemic, workers employed in the aviation sector saw massive cuts to their jobs due to the mass grounding of flights brought on by successive lockdowns.

Source: Anadolu Agency

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Monday with the leaders of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland at the Nordic summit in Oslo as the countries are seeking to strengthen defense and security cooperation.

Scholz said Germany and the Nordic countries are “facing the same challenges” and should work on sharing energy resources.

In order to become independent from Russian fossil fuels, “combining forces” to develop renewable energy resources is essential for this, the chancellor said.

Europe’s efforts to free itself from dependence on Russian gas will be “turbulent,” he added.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Germany will be among the key allies in efforts to deepen cooperation in the north of Europe.

Store said electricity is the key, and “almost everything that can me electrified will be electrified, which means that in the future, we will need more renewable energy.”

At a joint press conference, it was noted that great efforts are being made in terms of renewable energy so that Europe can free itself from its dependence on Russian gas.

“We also stand together to mitigate the global effects of the war unleashed by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin against Ukraine such as worsened food and energy security,” Scholz added.

Scholz said Germany together with its Nordic allies will support Ukraine politically, militarily, financially and through humanitarian means and assistance and also with its reconstruction.

The allies also discussed European security amid Sweden and Finland’s bid to join the NATO alliance.

“Germany is particularly pleased to be able to welcome in the near future two more Nordic partners, Finland and Sweden, to NATO,” Scholz said.

He said the two countries will contribute to the security of Northern Europe, Germany and of the transatlantic alliance.

“We will continue our close cooperation for the benefit of peace and security in our own countries and beyond,” he added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Chinese research and survey vessel Yuang Wang 5 docked at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port on Tuesday morning amid India’s security concerns.

Sri Lanka last week said it has granted permission for the Chinese research vessel to visit the country after initially deferring the planned trip due to “pressure” from neighboring India.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority’s Harbour Master Captain Nirmal de Silva told Anadolu Agency the ship arrived and berthed by 8.30 a.m. local time on Tuesday at Hambantota port.

The Yuang Wang 5 will be at Hambantota port from Aug. 16 to 22, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The vessel was originally due at the Chinese-built and -leased port in southern Sri Lanka on Aug. 11.

Colombo asked Beijing to postpone the visit amid “security concerns” raised by New Delhi, which fears the ship could spy on its military facilities and that China plans to use Hambantota as a military base.

Sri Lanka has given “clearance for replenishment purposes” after holding “extensive consultations at a high level through diplomatic channels with all parties … taking into account the interests of all parties concerned, and in line with the principle of sovereign equality of states,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The controversy comes as the island nation grapples with its worst-ever economic crisis and political turmoil that saw former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign after fleeing the country amid mass protests in July.

During the last six months of Rajapaksa’s turbulent rule, India gave Sri Lanka nearly $4 billion in financial aid and material assistance.

Colombo has also borrowed heavily from Beijing in the past, most notably while Rajapaksa’s brother Mahinda was president from 2005 to 2015.

Amid simmering tensions, India’s Foreign Ministry said Sri Lanka was free to make its “own independent decisions,” while New Delhi reserves the right to protect its interests.

“With regards to our security concerns … this is a sovereign right of each country. We will make the best judgment in our own interest,” ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said at a news briefing on Friday.

China last week said it was “completely unjustified” for India to “cite the so-called ‘security concerns’ to pressure Sri Lanka.”

“We urge the relevant parties to see China’s marine scientific research activities in a rational light and stop disrupting normal exchange and cooperation between China and Sri Lanka,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Aug. 8.

Source: Anadolu Agency