Day: September 1, 2022

The chairman of Russian energy giant Lukoil, Ravil Maganov, died on Thursday, the Moscow police said.

Maganov fell out of a window of a clinical hospital, where he was being treated for an illness, and died of injuries, according to the police.

“The incident occurred at about 7 a.m. Moscow time (0400GMT) in the Central Clinical Hospital on Marshal Tymoshenko Street. A man fell out of the window of the sixth floor, he died of his injuries,” the police statement said.

Maganov was 67.

Lukoil is one of the largest Russian oil companies and the second in terms of oil production in Russia.

Source: Anadolu Agency

An outbreak of cholera has reportedly killed 48 people in the central province of Sankuru in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local media reported Wednesday, citing health officials.

According to a report published on the privately run local French language news website Actualites CD, health officials detected 401 cases of cholera between Aug. 15-21.

The highest number of cases and fatalities were reported in the Lusambo health zone, with 308 cases and 24 deaths.

The head of the provincial health division in Sankuru, Dr. Aimé Alengo, said they are working with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the media, churches, and communities to sensitize people on how to avoid getting cholera.

Alengo said they are encouraging communities to wash their hands, avoid open defecation and use Aquatabs in drinking water to avoid getting infected.

Cholera is a bacterial disease usually spread through contaminated water and causes severe diarrhea and dehydration.

According to the report, Sankuru province is also battling other diseases such as measles, monkey pox, acute respiratory infections and meningitis.

Source: Anadolu Agency

France’s permanent representative to the UN said the “rocky relationship” between France and Türkiye has now improved and the two countries can resume cooperation on matters, including the Russia-Ukraine war.

Türkiye and France have had tense relations in recent years over Syria, Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean, and other issues with both countries trading barbs at each other.

As France assumed the rotating UN Security Council presidency as of Sept. 1, Nicolas de Riviere sat down for an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency.

He said he was happy to see that relations with Türkiye had “improved a lot” and France and Europe could cooperate with Ankara.

“We are more than happy to cooperate with Turkey on Ukraine. I think it is absolutely critical,” he said.

He welcomed all efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, adding that Turkish efforts will remain critical.

French President Emmanuel Macron has attempted to be a mediator between Ukraine and Russia since the war began on Feb. 24.

De Riviere, however, painted a bleak picture of prospects for a cease-fire any time soon amid Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the country’s south.

“I am afraid that fighting will continue for a certain period of time. I don’t think the cease-fire is coming soon,” he said. “I am a little skeptical that Ukraine will be able to regain its lost territories. I would be surprised that Ukraine will be able to kick the Russians out of Donbas or to kick them out of Crimea.”

Iran nuclear talks

Having served as France’s chief negotiator for Iran nuclear talks, de Riviere also said that it is essential to return to the landmark 2015 accord for global security as the US voiced optimism that it can reach an agreement with Tehran after indirect talks mediated by the EU in Vienna earlier this month.

“Those who criticize the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) have probably no knowledge of the substance of the agreement and ignore the realities,” he said.

The JCPOA saw an international inspections regime imposed on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from biting international sanctions that hobbled Iran’s economy.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally left the agreement and re-imposed US sanctions in a fruitless effort to bring Iran back to the negotiating table.

De Riviere said that the return of Iranian oil into global markets in case of a deal followed by the lifting of US sanctions could contribute to market stabilization amid energy crisis due to the war in Ukraine.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Russia and Iran are concentrating on creating mechanisms that will allow them to develop cooperation regardless of the diktats of the West, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday.

The leaders of the two countries defined concrete areas where the governments should make efforts to achieve the goals, Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow following a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

“Our Western colleagues, in an effort to establish their complete dominance in the world, purposefully and consistently destroy the entire structure of international relations.

“Meanwhile, we are concentrating together with our friends, including, of course, the Islamic Republic of Iran, on creating reliable, constructive mechanisms that will allow us to develop mutually beneficial cooperation regardless of any diktat,” he said.

Lavrov said Moscow and Tehran are working on an “interstate agreement” which will “be of strategic importance” that “will set out the basic guidelines for further building up the entire range of Russian-Iranian ties in the coming decades.”

He noted that despite sanctions, trade turnover between the two countries grew by more than 40% in the first half of this year and surpassed $2.7 billion.

Russia also supports Iran’s accession as a permanent member to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and a memorandum of Iran’s obligations to the organization will be signed at the SCO summit in September in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, he said.

Moscow and Tehran are also working on connecting Russia’s Mir and Iran’s Shetab payment systems to facilitate financial transactions between the two countries, Lavrov added.

“Substantive negotiations are underway at the level of central banks. They had a meeting in July and agreed on a roadmap that will lead us to this result,” he said.

Lavrov also expressed support to Iran regarding the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, saying Russia will align its position on this issue in accordance with Iran.For his part, Amir-Abdollahian said he handed Lavrov “a message from one of the European leaders” on the situation around Ukraine.

This unnamed leader, who is most likely Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, originally asked Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to pass it on to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Amir-Abdollahian noted.

“There were ideas (in the message) about the support of peace and tranquility as well as the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine. We discussed these ideas with Mr. Lavrov,” he said.

Speaking about the restoration of the JCPOA, Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran needs stronger guarantees that the agreement will not be annulled again.

“If we can reinforce the existing text, reaching an agreement will not be far from being achieved,” he said.

He then urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refrain from making politicized statements and assessments and to thoroughly fulfill its obligations.

“It is unacceptable for Iran that after the return of all parties to the JCPOA, we will again witness unfounded accusations by the IAEA,” he stressed.

Amir-Abdollahian also confirmed that Russia and Iran reached “good agreements” regarding the integration of Mir and Shetab payment systems.

“We are optimistic about this and hope that in the near future, the latest technical steps will be taken and the peoples of our states and entrepreneurs will be able to use this opportunity,” he said.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Five more ships have left Ukrainian ports under the Istanbul grain export deal, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

A ministry statement, which did not disclose the point of origin of the ships, said shipments from Ukrainian ports are continuing as planned.

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which paused after the Russia-Ukraine war that began in February.

A Joint Coordination Center with officials from the three countries and the UN has been set up in Istanbul to oversee the shipments.

Since the first ship left Ukraine under the deal on Aug. 1, more than 60 ships with over 1 million tons of agricultural products have set sail.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Kenyans from all walks of life were glued to their televisions Wednesday as they watched live Supreme Court proceedings challenging William Ruto’s right to call himself president elect.

Voters went to the polls on Aug. 9 and cast their ballots in elections in which Ruto, Kenya’s deputy president, was declared president, beating 77-year-old opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Kenya’s Chief Justice Martha Koome led a seven-judge bench Wednesday to preside over the election results appeals, which must be decided by Monday. If they order the cancellation of the results, a new election must be held within 60 days.

The first submission during the Supreme Court hearings, which came from Senior Counsel James Orengo, said the results of the election should be nullified as no side garnered 50+1% of the vote as stipulated by the constitution for a presidential election win.

“Our grievances are not a conspiracy theory or any ordinary event. If you look at the evidence in totality, we invite your lordships to come to the conclusion that what happened on Aug. 9 marks a pattern of violations against the constitution in order to undermine the sovereign will of the people,” Orengo said.

Ruto’s lawyers were also present in the court to hear the petitions.

Odinga showed confidence in his legal team as the hearings kicked off.

“It’s day one. Our legal team is ready,” he said in a statement to the media.

Odinga’s comments came amid a vote recount of presidential ballots at 15 polling stations that kicked off Wednesday.

Five-time presidential candidate Odinga rejected the “flawed” election results, calling them a “major setback” to democracy in the East African country that could trigger a political crisis. He had filed legal challenges in 2013 and 2017 as well.

Ruto garnered nearly 7.18 million votes, or 50.49% of the total, while Odinga got 48.85% or over 6.94 million votes.

The Supreme Court has until Monday to issue rulings on nine issues in the petitions they have to consider.

The issues revolve around whether the technology deployed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for the conduct of the 2022 general elections met the standards of integrity, verifiability, security and transparency to guarantee accurate and verifiable results.

Other issues include whether there was interference while uploading the forms to the electoral commission’s servers.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Pakistan has received $1.16 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under its bailout package, the country’s central bank confirmed.

“This will help improve SBP (State Bank of Pakistan’s) foreign exchange reserves and will also facilitate the realization of other planned inflows from multilateral and bilateral sources,” the bank said in a statement issued on Wednesday night.

On Monday, the IMF approved the release of a long-stalled $1.17 billion tranche of its bailout package for the cash-strapped South Asian country.

The development came after Islamabad agreed to fulfill some key IMF demands, including withdrawal of subsidies on electricity and petroleum, despite public outcry.

In 2019, the IMF agreed on a $6 billion bailout package to prop up the country’s sputtering economy.

The assistance is seen as crucial for Pakistan, which is currently struggling to cope with massive financial and human losses caused by a devastating spell of rains and floods.

The latest official data shows nearly 1,200 people have been killed and over 33 million affected across the country since June in what officials have termed a “climate catastrophe.”

According to economists, Pakistan will need more loans and assistance from other countries and lenders to overcome the spiraling economic and humanitarian crises.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A Greek opposition leader who found himself targeted by state surveillance said he is victim of a political conspiracy orchestrated by the prime minister and his underlings, local media said Wednesday.

The reason behind the surveillance, which the government refused to reveal so far, was blackmail, Nikos Androulakis, the leader of Greece’s third-largest political party, told SKAI, one of the country’s top radio stations.

To this end, he said, they wanted to use Israeli-made Predator spyware which can access not only phone conversations and messages but also personal files stored on cellphones.

Androulakis reiterated that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is personally responsible for his surveillance by the National Intelligence Services (EYP).

But he is still trying to blame the victim, Androulakis claimed.

Androulakis also denied Mitsotakis’ argument that he refused to be informed by the government of the surveillance, saying: “No competent agency ever asked to officially inform me.”

Androulakis also stressed he will take his case to the European Court of Human Rights and pursue action against Panagiotis Kontoleon, the former intel chief.

Meanwhile, Nasos Iliopoulos, the former deputy labor minister and spokesperson of the main opposition SYRIZA-PS, told public broadcaster ERT that covering up the scandal, instead of answering the questions by the opposition and the public, has been the government’s main concern.

Referring to local media reports that the intel agency was ordered to destroy surveillance material, he said the government has not pushed back on these claims.

Iliopoulos also said the government has been using talking points about national security and pride to cover up the scandal.

He also argued that the European People’s Party, which the ruling Nea Dimokratia (ND) is part of in the European Parliament, is blocking hearings on Androulakis by an appropriate committee.

“What exactly are they afraid of?” Iliopoulos asked.

-Surveillance scandal

In an address to the nation on Aug. 8, Mitsotakis acknowledged that Androulakis was wiretapped by the intel agency, but denied knowledge of the operation.

“It was formally OK but politically unacceptable,” he said.

The announcement followed the resignation of EYP head Kontoleon and the Prime Minister’s Secretary General Grigoris Dimitriadis on Aug. 5.

The scandal unfolded on Aug. 4 when Kontoleon told a parliamentary committee that his agency had been spying on financial journalist Thanasis Koukakis.

The parliamentary probe was launched after Androulakis complained to top prosecutors about an attempt to hack his cellphone with Israeli-made Predator surveillance software.

Opposition parties blame Mitsotakis for the scandal and have called for his government to hold snap elections, something he rejects.

The European Commission and European Parliament have said they are closely monitoring developments related to the scandal.

Source: Anadolu Agency

German air carrier Lufthansa’s pilots will go on a 24-hour strike on Friday over an ongoing pay dispute with the company

The pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) said Thursday that the latest talks with the management have failed to make any headway.

“Lufthansa must present a significantly improved offer,” negotiator Marcel Groels said in a statement, adding that the positions of the management and the union were “too far apart” at the moment.

He said the collective bargaining commission is demanding compensation for the loss of real wages and internationally competitive remuneration structure in all occupational groups.

Friday’s strike will begin at 00:01 a.m. local time and end at 23:59 p.m. according to the union, and will affect both passenger and cargo flights.

In a separate statement, Lufthansa said it cancelled almost all flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich for Friday as pilots go on a strike.

The airline is canceling 800 flights which will affect 130,000 passengers, it said, adding that Lufthansa is working to return its flight operations to a normal status as quickly as possible.

There might be more flight cancellations or delays this Saturday and Sunday, the airline warned.

“We cannot understand VC’s call for a strike. The management has made a very good and socially balanced offer – despite the continuing burdens of the Covid crisis and uncertain prospects for the global economy,” Michael Niggemann, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said.

Source: Anadolu Agency