Day: October 4, 2022

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3 Rohingya killed, 45 rescued as boat carrying migrants sinks in Bay of Bengal

Bangladeshi coast guards recovered the bodies of three Rohingya refugee women and rescued 45 others after a boat carrying them to Malaysia illegally capsized in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday.

 

There were approximately 85 passengers on board, said Noor Mohammad, a Bangladesh Coast Guard official working at the Baharchhara outpost in the Teknaf area of the southeast Cox’s Bazaar district.

 

He told Anadolu Agency that 45 people were rescued alive and the rest made it to shore.

 

He added that four of those rescued were members of human trafficking networks.

 

The Coast Guard led the rescue operation, while local fishermen were the first to notice the incident and begin rescuing the victims.

 

The identities of those rescued were not immediately known, but according to police, the majority of them are Rohingya living in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps.

 

Delwar Hossain, contingent commander of the Coast Guard’s Baharchhara outpost, told Anadolu Agency that they left the spot after completing the rescue operation.

 

The overcrowded boat left for Malaysia early in the morning and sank in the Bay of Bengal.

 

It was not yet known how many people were on the boat. The officials did, however, say the rescued people are mostly Rohingya refugees living in various camps in Cox’s Bazar.

 

Police have taken the rescued into custody to investigate their identities.

 

One of the rescued Rohingya women told Anadolu Agency that they planned to migrate to Malaysia in search of a better life.

 

“As the situation inside Myanmar worsens, many of us are desperate to migrate to any third country,” she said, declining to give her name.

 

Meanwhile, images obtained by Anadolu Agency show that all rescued people, mostly Rohingya, were kept on the shore before being transferred to police custody. There are some children among them.

 

Bangladesh has housed 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar since a refugee influx in 2017 in response to a Myanmar military crackdown.

 

With efforts to repatriate Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar stalled, many members of the persecuted ethnic minority are looking for a way out, playing into the hands of human smugglers.

 

According to a 2020 UN report, 2,413 Rohingya refugees took risky sea routes to reach a third country from Bangladesh’s refugee camps. At least 218 people died or went missing during the perilous journey.

 

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Moment at a press briefing on Tuesday evening said peaceful repatriation is the only solution to the Rohingya crisis.

 

“We have discussed the issues with many forums, and many big and powerful states, including Türkiye, have assured us of their support,” Momen added.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

 

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Lawmakers call for temporary closure of EU Parliament in Strasbourg to save energy

German lawmakers are calling for the closure of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, France this winter due to Europe’s worsening energy crisis.

 

“Until spring, we should meet only in Brussels,” German CDU lawmaker Peter Liese said in a letter to EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola, adding that this would save on heating and energy costs.

 

Although Brussels, Belgium is the EU capital, the EU Parliament is headquartered in Strasbourg, near the French-German border.

 

MEPs hold plenary sessions in Strasbourg, while committee meetings, mini-plenaries and daily administration take place in the EU capital, Brussels.

 

Several German MEPs from various parties told Bild daily that the energy and money spent for travelling for the meetings in Strasbourg is inappropriate in view of the growing energy crisis in Europe.

 

MEP Moritz Korner of the liberal FDP party said continuing to meet in Strasbourg would make a “mockery of taxpayers.”

 

The Strasbourg parliament building should be “immediately sent into energy hibernation,” he told Bild daily.

 

Daniel Freund, a Green Party MEP, also spoke in favor of closing the parliament in Strasbourg.

 

The EU Parliament should no longer meet in Strasbourg “until the energy crisis is over,” he told the daily.

 

EU lawmakers have long called for an end to the practice of moving between Strasbourg and Brussels to lower costs and protect the environment, but France opposes this due to prestige and the significant revenue its hospitality sector generates when the plenary is in session.

 

The setup demands EU lawmakers, thousands of their staffers, and confidential documents be transported to France once a month for the plenary sessions.

 

According to Michael Jager, secretary general of the European Taxpayers’ Association, the “traveling circus” between Brussels and Strasbourg is “an ecological and economic disaster.”

 

He told Bild daily that the current energy crisis should lead to a rethink among decision-makers.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

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UEFA to commemorate Indonesian stadium stampede victims

This week, all UEFA matches will feature a moment of silence to commemorate the victims of Saturday’s Indonesian football tragedy, European football’s governing body said on Tuesday.

 

“UEFA has today announced that a moment of silence will be held prior to kick-off in memory of the victims of the tragic events at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Indonesia.

 

“This moment of silence will take place at all UEFA matches this week (Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League and Women’s World Cup play-offs),” UEFA said in a statement.

 

Indonesian officials launched a probe after 125 people were killed during a stampede and riots during a football game on Saturday night.

 

After supporters of the losing home team stormed the pitch in the Kanjuruhan football stadium, Malang, in East Java province, officers fired tear gas to disperse them, triggering the stampede and cases of suffocation. The injured were treated at around eight health facilities.

 

Of the 125 deceased, 33 are children, including eight girls and 25 boys.

 

According to police estimates, around 40,000 spectators attended the game, with 3,000 of them rushing into the stadium.

 

The government is paying 50 million rupiahs ($3,268) as compensation to the families of the 125 victims.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

 

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Over 6M tons of grain shipped from Ukraine since August

Over 6 million tons of grains have been exported from Ukraine since August under the Istanbul deal, Türkiye’s National Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

 

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 start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February.

 

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

 

Meanwhile, eight more ships have left Ukrainian ports on Tuesday, the ministry said.

 

Since the first ship sailed from Ukraine under the deal on Aug. 1, more than 260 ships with over 6 million tons of grain have departed from ports.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

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US stocks open higher after rally in previous session

Major indices in the US stock market opened higher Tuesday, continuing the previous session’s rally with investors’ optimism following weaker than expected US manufacturing data.

 

Investors expect a slowdown in the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes after the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday that the US manufacturing PMI unexpectedly fell to 50.9 in September, the lowest since May 2020.

 

The Dow Jones was up 335.8 points, or 1.14%, to 29,826.7 at 9.30 am EDT. The S&P 500 rose 57.6 points, or 1.57%, to 3,736.

 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 234.2 points, or 2.17%, to 11,049.7.

 

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, fell 3.06% to 29.18. The 10-year US Treasury yield, meanwhile, fell 1.42% to 3.599%.

 

The dollar index decreased 0.66% to 110.92.

 

Precious metals were on the rise, with gold adding 0.89% to $1,717 and silver rising 1.96% to $20.99.

 

Oil prices were up more than 2.7%. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $91.31 a barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was around $85.91.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Pakistan premier lauds Türkiye’s help to flood victims

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday lauded the humanitarian assistance from Türkiye for the victims of recent floods that have affected over 33 million people in the South Asian country.

 

Talking to a Turkish Red Crescent delegation led by Hakki Turunc, its goodwill ambassador, the premier commended the relief and rescue and operations launched by several Turkish relief agencies, which helped tens of thousands of flood victims across the country, said a statement from the prime minister’s office.

 

Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Mehmet Pacaci was also present in the meeting.

 

“Be it the earthquake of 2005, super floods of 2010 and recent floods, Türkiye has always come forward to help Pakistanis,” Sharif said.

 

Thanking President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish people for sending trains loaded with supplies, the prime minister pointed out provision of 50 boats by Türkiye for rescue and relief operations, which helped relocate hundreds of people stranded in inundated areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces.

 

Turunc expressed his full support not only in rescue and relief operations, but for rehabilitation of the flood victims across the country.

 

Türkiye has so far sent 15 planes and 13 trains loaded with thousands of tons of relief goods, including tents, boats, food packages, medicines, vaccines, kitchen items, and other supplies to flood-ravaged Pakistan.

 

Heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 1,638 people since mid June, according to the UN, besides damaging swathes of agricultural land, leaving millions homeless and destroying infrastructure. The southern districts of Balochistan and Sindh provinces are worst-affected, while parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have also been hit.

 

A Turkish ministerial delegation headed by Interior Minister Suleman Soylu visited flood-hit regions in Pakistan last month.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Avalanche kills 4 mountaineers, traps many in India’s northern Himalayan state

An avalanche killed at least four mountaineers and trapped several others in India’s northern Himalayan state, officials said on Tuesday.

 

A massive operation is underway to rescue those trapped in the Uttarakhand state’s Uttarkashi district, officials said, adding that they were over 40 trainees and instructors from the Uttarakhand-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.

 

“As per the training schedule on October 4, the course (advance mountaineering course, which began Sept. 14) moved for high altitude navigation and height gain to mountain Draupadi ka Dhanda- II (5,670 meters),” the institute said in a statement.

 

“While returning back from the mountain peak, the advance mountaineering course was met with an avalanche occurred above camp-I in which 34 trainees and 07 mountaineering instructors were caught under avalanche at 8.45 hrs,” it added.

 

Uttarakhand Police in a statement issued in the evening, claimed that 17 people are believed to be safe, while an operation to find others is underway in the area.

 

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said rescue operations are underway to help the mountaineers who are trapped in the area.

 

The Indian Air Force has been directed to launch the rescue and relief operations, he stated on Twitter.

 

Arpan Yaduvanshi, a top police officer in the district, told Anadolu Agency that the rescue operation was being hampered by bad weather in the area.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

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Ukraine recaptures 5 settlements in Kherson, Kharkiv regions

The Ukrainian army recaptured from Russian forces four settlements in the Kherson region and one settlement in the Kharkiv region, according to local media on Tuesday.

 

Ukraine took control of the Davydiv Brid, Starosillya, Novopetrivka, and Dudchany settlements in the Kherson region as well as the village of Bohuslavka in Kharkiv.

 

The Ukrainian army launched an offensive against Russian forces in the Kharkiv, Kherson, and Donetsk regions.

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that since last month, more than 450 settlements in Kharkiv alone have been recaptured from Russian forces.

 

After the holding of referendums condemned by the international community as a “sham,” last week parts of Kherson and all of Donetsk were declared annexed by Russia, along with other regions of Ukraine.

 

Türkiye has firmly rejected the annexation, calling it “a grave violation of the established principles of international law.”

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

 

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US job openings fall to 10.1M in August

Job openings in the US fell to 10.1 million in August, below market forecasts of 10.775 million.

 

The figure fell 1.1 million from a downwardly revised figure of 11.2 million in July, while the rate of job openings was at 6.2% in August, according to Labor Department figures released Tuesday.

 

The largest drop in job openings was in health care and social assistance with 236,000, other services with 183,000, and retail trade with 143,000.

 

The number of hires and its rate saw little change at 6.3 million and 4.1%, respectively.

 

Total separations, which include employees leaving, layoffs and discharges, came in at 6 million.

 

Around 4.2 million people left their jobs in August, according to the figures.

 

The survey measures job vacancies by collecting data from employers about employment, job openings, hiring, and separations.

 

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, considers job openings as all positions that are open or not filled on the last business day of the month when the survey is done.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency