Author: tngadmin

ISTANBUL (AA) – Pinar Karsiyaka claimed a 71-80 away win over Fenerbahce Beko to level ING Basketball Super League playoff semifinals on Saturday.

Pinar Karsiyaka’s Jeffery Raymar Morgan posted a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the second match at Ulker Sports and Event Hall in Istanbul.

James Metecan Birsen came off the bench to add 19 points and seven rebounds for the Izmir basketball club as the series is now tied up 1-1.

Fenerbahce Beko’s German center Danilo Timon Barthel was the highest scorer for his team with 15 points and six rebounds.

Czech power forward Jan Vesely helped his team with 14 points and five rebounds.

The third game between the two sides will be played at Pinar Karsiyaka’s home ground, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Karsiyaka Sports Hall on Monday.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANTALYA (AA) – Some players of the Turkish national football team were vaccinated for the novel coronavirus on Saturday.

A total of 11 players, including Altay Bayindir, Ridvan Yilmaz and Umut Meras, received their second doses of Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine at Serik State Hospital in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.

Leicester City winger Cengiz Under had got vaccine at the same hospital two days ago.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL (AA) – Breast milk, which is a living liquid, not only provides nutrition to infants but it strengthens the immune system and protects them from infections, according to a top Turkish pediatrician.

“Studies show that infants who breastfeed for a year are 50% less likely to catch an infection than other babies,” said Nalan Karabayir, who teaches pediatric health and diseases at Medipol Mega University Hospital in Istanbul.

-Breast milk antibodies protect from COVID-19

Antibodies for the coronavirus were found in the milk of mothers who were vaccinated, and babies can be protected in this way.

Karabayir said if the mother is inoculated against the coronavirus, it will protect her and her baby from an infection.

Touching on the effects of COVID-19 on mothers and infants, referring to studies, Karabayir said the pandemic affects children of all ages but with our current knowledge, it is accepted that it is not transmitted through breast milk.

“It is known that antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, which occur in the mother who had a COVID-19 infection, also pass into breast milk and protect the baby from infection,” she said.

It is known that breastfeeding is safe as long as mothers strictly follow isolation practices such as wearing masks, social distancing and hygiene, she said.

Underlining that living cells of the mother’s immune system are present in breast milk, Karabayir said, “Thanks to breast milk, the baby receives 1.5 million live cells in every 1 milliliter [0.03 ounce] of milk.”

The World Health Organization and groups dealing with infant and child health suggest that babies should breastfeed for the first six months and breastfeeding should continue until at least they reach 2 years old, she said.

Karabayir underscored that babies are born before their immune systems are fully mature. “Physical and chemical conservators are not yet developed postnatally. For this reason, they need immunological components in breast milk to combat microorganisms that may cause infection.”

“In addition to the nutritional properties of breast milk, the live cells, probiotics, cytokines, immunoglobulins, oligosaccharides it contains, provide protection of the baby from infections. For these reasons, breast milk is unique,” she added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – The handwritten letter of Albert Einstein that contains his famous E=mc2 equation was sold at auction for more than $1.2 million on Saturday.


The Boston-based PR auction house stated that the letter was sold for about three times more than the estimate.

The one-page handwritten letter in German to the Polish American physicist Ludwik Silberstein is dated Oct. 26. 1946.


The E = mc² equation, which was first published in a scientific journal in 1905 and explains the mass-energy equivalence in physics, is accepted as the basic concept of modern physics.

Considered one of the most important scientists in the world history, Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – A wanted PKK terrorist was “neutralized” in Turkey’s southeastern Mardin province, said Turkish National Defense Ministry on Saturday.

A total of seven terrorists were neutralized in an operation conducted by provincial gendarmerie units with the support of Gendarmerie Armed Drone (J-SIHA) and Air Force Command on May 8 in the countryside Nusaybin district of Mardin.

Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralize” in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

One of the terrorists, identified as Serhat Ericek, codenamed Rizgar Kocer, had operated for the terror group in the Bogok area of Mardin. He was in the grey category of the Interior Ministry’s wanted list with a reward of up to 500,000 lira (nearly $60,000).

The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and grey.

Ericek was among the terrorists who carried out an attack with a hand-made explosive device in the Sarikoy area of Idil district in Sirnak province on Dec. 9, 2019, killing Petty Officer Esma Cevik and Sergeant Kemal Sayar.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Source: Anadolu Agency

CARACAS, Venezuela (AA) – Israel’s crimes in the Gaza Strip must be brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Palestinian Ambassador to Venezuela Fadi Alzaben said Friday.

“Israel cannot enjoy such impunity. They have to pay for their crimes and must be tried at the ICC,” he said.

His comment came in response to Israel’s recent bombings of Gaza that lasted 11 days.

Alzaben’s remarks were made during an event to show solidarity with the people of Palestine in Guarenas, a municipality bordering Venezuela’s capital of Caracas.

He said that more than 75 Palestinian children and women were killed as a result of Israel’s recent attacks.

“More than 75 Palestinian children and women have died. They have attacked the infrastructure of the Gaza Strip, also the holy mosque of Al Aqsa,” he said.

The vent was organized by Guarena Mayor Luis Figueroa, who reiterated the federal government’s commitment to Palestinians.

Figueroa said his city would soon inaugurate a square in honor of the Palestinian people.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey has administered over 27 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine since the launch of a mass vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, according to official figures.

As of Saturday, more than 15.87 million people have received their first doses, while over 11.87 million have been fully vaccinated, according to the Health Ministry data.

The ministry also confirmed a total of 8,697 new cases, including 835 symptomatic patients, across the country in the past 24 hours.

Turkey’s overall case tally is now over 5.17 million, while the nationwide death toll reached 46,071 with 231 more fatalities over the past day.

As many as 14,472 more patients won the battle against the virus, taking the total number of recoveries over 5 million.

Over 52.1 million coronavirus tests have been done to date.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition stands at 1,876.

In a statement Saturday, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the country has made deals to receive 100 million doses of Sinovac, 120 million doses of BioNTech and 50 million doses of Sputnik vaccines. He noted that 270 million doses of the vaccine were more than three times the population.

Turkey started a gradual normalization process on May 17 after a 17-day lockdown that significantly brought the infections down.

Until June 1, the country will enforce weeknight curfews from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., while weekends will be under full lockdown.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 3.4 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 165 million cases reported worldwide, according to the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

The US, India, and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of the number of infections and deaths.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL (AA) – American actress Susan Sarandon reiterated support for the people of Palestine on Friday.

“To be clear: Being against the occupation of Palestine does not make one pro-Hamas. Being against the occupation of Palestine does not make one anti-Semitic,” Sarandon wrote on Twitter.

Sarandon voiced support for Palestine earlier this month when she wrote: “Standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people who are facing ethnic cleansing and being terrorized at the hands of the Israeli government and Jewish settler organizations. The world is watching.”

As Israel-Palestine tension escalated, several celebrities, including Gigi and Bella Hadid, Zayn Malik and Roger Waters declared solidarity with Palestine.

Tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

The escalation resulted in airstrikes by Israel on Gaza, which has left at least 243 Palestinians dead and more than 1,700 others wounded since May 10, according to Palestinian authorities.

A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group, began early Friday.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 – a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is scheduled to receive the UN’s special envoy for Libya, Jan Kubis on a two-day visit to the country on Saturday.

Invited by the Foreign Ministry, Kubis’ visit is expected to begin on Saturday, the Turkish ministry said in a statement.

“During the meeting, possible steps that could be taken by the international community to support the Government of National Unity and the political settlement process in Libya will be discussed,” it added.

Libya has recently witnessed positive developments following a breakthrough in which rival parties agreed on Feb. 5 on a unified new executive authority that will govern Libya in the lead-up to national elections on Dec. 24.

Libyans hope the new government will end years of civil war that have engulfed the country since the ouster and killing of strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi in 2011.

Source: Anadolu Agency