Month: December 2022

Baku does not hinder traffic in the Lachin corridor, a route connecting Armenia to the Caucasus territory of Karabakh, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said on Friday.

In a phone talk with his Estonian counterpart Urmas Reinsalu, Bayramov pointed out that Azerbaijan put forward a number of initiatives to restore relations with Armenia, including proposals for a peace agreement, but the process was hampered by Armenia.

As examples of “gross violations” of the November 10, 2020 trilateral statement that ended the latest conflict between two former Soviet republics, he cited the presence of Armenian armed units on Azerbaijan’s territory, illegal entry of citizens of third states into the territory of Azerbaijan through the Lachin road that is intended only for humanitarian purposes, and mine threats from Armenia.

He also informed about the illegal exploitation of natural resources of Azerbaijan, which lasted for about 30 years of occupation and intensified in recent years, noting Azerbaijani civil society protests against it in the Lachin corridor.

“Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed that the claims of Armenian residents about the ‘blockade’ of the Lachin road as a result of the closure of the Azerbaijani side, and the creation of a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in the region are completely unfounded, and vehicles use the road freely,” the statement said.

He added that obstacles to the use of the road are created by people who introduced themselves as “the leaders of local Armenians.”

The sides also exchanged views on other regional and bilateral issues of mutual interest.

The two former Soviet states of Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a 44-day war in fall 2020 over Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

The war, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal, saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday expressed concern over the situation in the Lachin corridor, a route connecting Armenia to the Caucasus territory of Karabakh.

The Russian side, in particular the leadership of the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent, continues to take consistent steps to resolve this situation, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a written statement published on the ministry’s website.

Zakharova criticized “provocations” against Russian peacekeepers, saying Moscow considers attacks against them as “unacceptable and deliberate actions that cause tangible harm to the process of Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization.”

“We call on Baku and Yerevan to strictly comply with all the provisions of the Statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia dated November 9, 2020.

“We note that the Lachin corridor should be used only for the purposes indicated in this document. We hope that the parties will come to agreements concerning the development of ore deposits in the region,” she stressed.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have seen this month a new escalation over the Lachin corridor, with Yerevan, accusing Baku of blocking the passage.

Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations at the Lachin corridor have been protesting the “illegal exploitation of natural resources” and other illegal activities by Armenia, but they have not “closed” or blocked the corridor, according to Azerbaijan.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Bangladesh’s main opposition political party and some of its allies on Friday held simultaneous demonstrations in the capital Dhaka from different venues, to press home the 10-point demands, including the formation of an election-time neutral government and stepping down of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The main opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), held the largest demonstrations at Dhaka’s central Naya Paltan area in front of the party’s headquarters.

Tens of thousands of activists and leaders of BNP took part in the demonstrations and a grand rally carrying festoons, banners, and the party’s electoral symbol of paddy sheaf.

Claiming that over 100,000 activists and leaders took part in Friday’s demonstrations, BNP leaders said Hasina must hand over power to a neutral caretaker government before the next national elections are held in December 2023 or January 2024.

“We want a democratic system in Bangladesh and a new government that would take power through a free, fair, and participatory election,” Afroza Abbas, BNP leader and wife of the party’s detained central leader Mirza Abbas, told Anadolu Agency.

She added that people have rejected this “illegal” Awami League government that has come to power through vote rigging and ballot stuffing.

Underlining former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia as the protector of democracy, she called on the government to immediately release Zia and other BNP leaders.

The demonstrators also chanted slogans against the price hike of daily commodities and human rights violations.

The party also declared at its grand rally to hold a four-hour-long sit-in protest on Jan. 11 in all the divisional headquarters, including Dhaka.

Police, Jamaat clashes

Meanwhile, the activists of Bangladesh’s leading Islamic political party and the main ally of BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and police engaged in clashes in Dhaka’s Malibagh area.

According to eyewitnesses, thousands of workers and leaders of Jamaat brought out a procession in support of the BNP’s 10-point movement that the party declared from a big rally on Dec. 10.

In a statement, Jamaat claimed that police intentionally attacked the peaceful rally of Jamaat and arrested nearly 100 of their workers.

Alongside the 10-point demands, Jamaat also called on the government to immediately release its central leader (Ameer) Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, who was arrested for his alleged connectivity with an Islamic extremist group that the party has denied.

Police, however, accused Jamaat workers of attacking the police during the demonstrations.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna zone deputy commissioner Md Shahidullah told the local New Age daily that many policemen were injured in Jamaat activists’ attack at Malibagh.

Meanwhile, Ganatatnra Mancha, an alliance of seven political parties, on Friday held a rally in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka.

The alliance announced that it will hold a three-hour mass sit-in program in divisional cities on Jan. 11, 2023 to press home its 14-point demands that also include stepping down of Hasina and holding the national elections under a neutral government system.

Gov’t slams opposition movement

Meanwhile, the ruling Awami League party criticized the opposition parties’ movement over the restoration of the caretaker government claiming the system was unconstitutional.

At a rally at the party’s central office in Dhaka on Friday, Awami League general secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaisul Quader called on their party workers to stay alert across the country against the opposition movement.

Repeating that no caretaker government would be restored, Quader added that in January 2024, the national elections would be held under the Awami League government.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Wall Street, epitome for US financial markets, suffered its worst performance in 14 years as major stock exchanges had their worst annual decline since 2008.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 304 points, or 0.92%, to close Friday at 32,915. The blue-chip index fell 8.6% since the beginning of this year.

The S&P 500 declined 41 points, or 1.07%, to finish the last trading day of the year at 3,808. It was down 19.2% for the year.

The Nasdaq decreased almost 118 points, or 1.13%, to end Friday at 10,359. The tech-heavy index dove 33% since the start of 2022.

Record inflation and aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve led to high volatility and heightened uncertainty by investors, which led to a bear US stock market in the year of 2022.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, rose 3.6% to 22.22 at Friday’s early close due to the last trading day before New Year’s Eve.

The 10-year US Treasury yield increased 1.3% to 3.884%.

The dollar index fell 0.4% to 103.42, while the euro added 0.4% to $1.0703 against the greenback on Friday.

Precious metals were mixed, with the price of gold rising 0.3% to $1,820 per ounce but silver retreating 0.5% to $23.79 an ounce.

Crude oil prices were in positive territory with gains over 1%. Global benchmark Brent crude was up 1.6% to $84.78 per barrel. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was around $79.41 – up 1.3%.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A Romanian court has ruled that former kickboxer Andrew Tate will remain in custody for 30 days.

Tate and his brother, Tristian, who have been under criminal investigation since April, and two more suspects have been detained in Romania as part of an investigation into alleged human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized crime group, according to media reports on Friday.

“The four suspects … appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost,” prosecutors from the anti-organized crime unit said in a statement.

Investigators identified six alleged victims who had been sexually exploited by the group, the directorate said.

This came after climate activist Greta Thunberg responded to a tweet by Tate, in which he boasted about his car collection.

In response to the report about Tate’s arrest, Thunberg wrote on Twitter: “This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes.”

Tate, a controversial online influencer, has been banned from a number of social media platforms for expressing extreme views, including that women bear some responsibility for sexual assault.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Solana blockchain platform’s native crypto token SOL saw its market value evaporating more than $50 billion this year as the massive firesale continued on Friday.

After the price of SOL dove below $10 on Thursday, for the first time since February 2021, it saw as low as $8.14 early Friday.

It later recovered to $9.89 at 2.52 p.m. EDT with a rebound for a daily gain of almost 12.5%.

The token’s market value dove to as low as $3.4 billion on Friday, from its highest level of $55.3 billion in early January, according to data from digital asset price-tracking website CoinMarketCap.

The annual price decline marks almost a $52 billion loss in market capitalization for the token this year.

SOL, once a top-5 crypto, is now ranked 17th as of Friday. It has been mired with internal issues.

Two major non-fungible token projects of Solana, DeGods and y00ts, announced recently that they are leaving the blockchain to move into Ethereum and Polygon.

Raydium, on-chain order book automated market maker and a significant part of Solana’s decentralized finance, was also hacked in early December.

Some crypto enthusiasts argue that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was a major promoter of the Solana blockchain, is behind the recent sell-off.

A number of blockchain watchers, on the other hand, support the idea that FTX-linked Alameda Research’s wallets have become active again, dumping SOL to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum instead.

Bankman-Fried, who faces eight federal charges from US prosecutors amid FTX’s implosion, was released on bail of $250 million last week and has his next court hearing on Jan. 3.

Securities regulator in the Bahamas announced Thursday it seized $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets of the collapsed FTX on Nov. 12, day after the crypto exchange platform filed for bankruptcy in the US.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Real Madrid had a good return to the Spanish La Liga on Friday, beating Valladolid 2-0 on goals from French star Karim Benzema following the World Cup break.

Benzema converted a penalty kick in the 83rd minute to break the deadlock. Six minutes later he finished in the box after teammate Eduardo Camavinga’s dribble from the left flank.

Valladolid’s Sergio Leon was sent off in the 82nd minute.

Real Madrid boosted their points to 38 in 15 matches to lead the La Liga standings.

Second-place Barcelona have 37 points ahead of Saturday’s derby against Espanyol.

Valladolid have 17 points.

Fans in Valladolid’s Jose Zorrilla Stadium observed a minute of silence before the match for Brazilian legend Pele, who died Thursday at the age of 82.

Pele had been suffering from colon cancer.

Source: Anadolu Agency

UK-based charity, Campaign for Better Transport, urged the government Friday to tax the super-rich for private jet travel to support public transportation.

Private jets are between five and 14 times more polluting than commercial flights and 50 times more polluting than trains, according to the charity, arguing that a “super rate of air passenger duty (APD)” should be applied to private jet passengers.

APD is the highest rate of tax on air travel anywhere in the world which affects all departing passengers from and within the UK and can, on some routes, make up to 50% of the ticket price.

The charity also wants the government to remove private flights from the current VAT-free status.

“Private jets are hugely damaging to the environment and are the preserve of the super-rich,” said Norman Baker, the group’s director of external affairs. “We think it’s about time that these individuals started paying for the damage their flights cause and the proceeds used to help improve public transport for communities up and down the country.”

Currently, private jet passengers are charged the same rate for APD as business or first-class passengers, with a higher rate applied to an aircraft of 20 tonnes (22 tons) or more with less than 19 passengers onboard.

The charity is demanding a “new super rate of APD” on private jet travel set at 10 times the current higher rate for domestic and European trips which would apply to all private jet passengers regardless of the size or capacity of the aircraft or distance traveled.

“With the UK responsible for 19% of Europe’s carbon emissions from private jets – more than any other European country – Campaign for Better Transport is calling on the government to ensure that private jets pay for the pollution they cause and that the money is invested into public transport services,” it said.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The French government on Friday required travelers from China to show a negative COVID test fewer than 48 hours old with their boarding pass, with random tests carried out on passengers on arrival, according to local media reports.

China recently announced it would begin to ease pandemic measures, the last biggest economy to opt for “living with COVID” following three years of lockdowns, closed borders, and mandatory quarantine.

Since the decision, an unprecedented number of people in the Asian nation have been infected daily.

The move came amid fresh announcements by countries such as the US, the UK, Japan, Italy, and Spain that will enforce new requirements for people coming from China, including negative COVID-19 test results.

It has been also reported that the French government also suggest people to postpone any non-essential travel to China.

Source: Anadolu Agency