Category: General

Turkish Cargo ranked third among the world’s top global freighters in June, a statement said on Thursday.

The subsidiary of national flag carrier Turkish Airlines jumped three positions from last year.

Turkish Cargo had the “largest growth ratio among the top 25 air cargo carriers, with a 5.7% market share in June 2021,” the statement said.

This was calculated according to FTK [Freight Ton Kilometers] data, which is obtained by multiplying cargo tonnage carried by air with the kilometers it was carried, it added.

Turkish Airlines CEO Ilker Ayci said the company’s success amid the COVID-19 pandemic proves its ability to overcome all obstacles.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Indonesia on Thursday said it has already conveyed condolences to Turkey over forest fires that have been burning in the country for over a week now.

Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi spoke to her counterpart in Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on Aug. 1.

“She expressed solidarity and condolences over forest fires that have ravaged some parts of the country and claimed the lives of 8 people,” Faizasyah told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

He said the Indonesian Embassy in Turkey continues to monitor the condition of its citizens in the affected areas.

“So far, there have been no reports of victims from Indonesia,” said the official, adding that around 1,000 Indonesian citizens are living in southern Turkey.

But “most of the Indonesian citizens reside in urban areas or around the coast, far from the forests,” Faizasyah explained.

Bekir Pakdemirli, Turkey’s agriculture and forestry minister, said that 167 fires in 33 provinces have been brought under control. Efforts to put out the remaining 16 blazes in seven provinces continue “unabated,” he added.

*Writing by Maria Elisa Hospita

Source: Anadolu Agency

Major stock markets in Asia closed mixed on Wednesday, while Europe turned lower before the Bank of England’s decision despite two indices hitting new record highs.

Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, rose 9 points, or 0.23%, to close at 3,880.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock exchange, climbed 144, or 0.52%, to 27,728 points.

Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, decreased 221.86 points, or 0.84%, to 26,205, while China’s Shanghai stock exchange was down 10.67, or 0.31%, to 3,466 points.

On Wednesday, three stock markets recovered from their losses in the previous session to end higher, except Japan, as they posted gains between 0.46% and 0.88%.

In Europe, major indices saw increases earlier with STOXX Europe and CAC 40 renewing their records, but later some indices turned lower before the Bank of England’s (BoE) critical interest rate decision at 1100GMT.

Although the central bank is expected to continue its stimulus program and keep the interest rate unchanged despite rising inflation, experts believe the bank would raise its inflation forecasts.

STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 European countries, was up 0.33% to 469.75 points at 1024GMT. The French stock market, CAC 40, stood at 6,777 with a 0.46% gain. Both indexes hit their all-time highs earlier in the session with 470.23 and 6,785.92 points, respectively.

London’s FTSE 100 and Spain’s IBEX 35 turned negative to 7,123 and 8,780 points, respectively.

While Germany’s DAX 30 was up 0.12% to 15,711 at that time, Italy’s Borsa Italiana FTSE MIB 30 gained 0.15% to 25,528.

European indices closed Wednesday higher with technology stocks seeing a 20-year high.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey has taken all necessary precautions to prevent any loss of life at the scene of a fire near a power plant in southwestern Mugla province, the country’s communications director said early Thursday.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Fahrettin Altun said all personnel at the Kemerkoy Thermal Power Plant in Turkevleri district have been evacuated as part of safety measures.

The plant was evacuated Wednesday due to a forest fire in the area.

Emergency response teams continue to take all necessary safety measures with inspection and cooling processes at the power plant site, he added.

Altun said the teams will continue cooling work from air and land in the region in the morning.

The blaze has reached the perimeter of the plant, with efforts to douse the fire being hindered by strong winds in the region.

Flammable and explosive materials have also been removed from the plant.

Water tankers and fire trucks have been stationed at the plant in case the fire spreads further towards the main building.

Source: Anadolu Agency

France advanced to the men’s basketball final at the Tokyo Games on Thursday with a 90-89 win against Slovenia.

Slovenian guard Klemen Prepelic’s driving lay-up was blocked by Nicolas Batum before Rudy Gobert grabbed the rebound in the final seconds to send France to the gold medal game.

Source: Anadolu Agency

US athlete Katie Nageotte won a gold medal in women’s pole vault at Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Thursday.

Nageotte, 30, jumped 4.90 meters in the final to be the Olympic champion in the Japanese capital.

Russian Olympic Committee’s Anzhelika Sidorova took silver with 4.85 meters.

Holly Bradshaw from Great Britain had a bronze medal with 4.85 meters, the same height with Sidorova.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will run through Aug. 8.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Some 65 soldiers in Myanmar were killed and 101 injured through July amid clashes with an armed ethnic group in the Mutraw district of Karen state, according to local media reports.

The Karen National Union (KNU) said there had been a total of 133 gun battles between its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and military forces in the area last month, with those injured including a battalion commander, according to the daily Myanmar Now.

Thoolei News, a media outlet under the group’s information department, said the commander was wounded during one of the 29 clashes fought during the third week of July.

The KNU said the military council had ordered artillery fire on civilian areas 25 times, while four civilians had triggered landmine explosions, the daily reported.

Citing Saw Kler Doh, the spokesman for a KNLA brigade active in Mutraw, the news outlet said two personnel from the military-allied Border Guard Forces had surrendered to the group in July and that four light arms had been confiscated on that occasion, it added.

Meanwhile, three KNLA troops were reportedly injured, according to Myanmar Now.

The group claimed that the troops had stolen livestock from locals, including buffaloes and cows, said the report.

Authorities in the military junta ruling the country had yet to respond to the group’s accusations until the news was published.

In addition to the fighting with the KNLA, the military council’s armed forces have been engaged in battles with the Kachin Independence Army in the northern Kachin and northeastern Shan states, the report said.

The Karenni Army in the eastern Kayah (Karenni) state and the Chin National Front in the northwestern Chin state have also fought alongside other local resistance forces against the junta, it said.

The junta announced on July 31 that it would cease all “military activities” for two months through August and September, though the sincerity of this declaration has been questioned by the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), an armed organization formed by anti-junta demonstrators on May 5, as well as by ethnic armed groups, according to the report.

The military has on previous occasions been known to declare temporary unilateral cease-fires in its fights against ethnic armed organizations, then repeatedly break them, it added.

Myanmar’s military ousted President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, detaining them along with other senior members of the pre-coup ruling National League for Democracy party, citing “election fraud.”

The takeover has led to months of demonstrations and a mass civil disobedience movement, which has been met with brutal force. The death toll has risen to 946, while 5,495 people remain detained, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local monitoring group.

* Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo with Anadolu Agency’s Indonesian language services in Jakarta.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A new team from Azerbaijan arrived in Turkey on Thursday to help in efforts to douse wildfires raging in the country for over a week.

Some 150 personnel and 40 fire trucks are part of what is the third team sent by Baku to assist Turkey’s fight against the wildfires.

An amphibious plane that has been part of firefighting operations in Turkey also returned after maintenance work in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has previously sent 320 personnel, 53 fire trucks, and a helicopter to Turkey.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the lower-wage service jobs disproportionately in the US and labor market recovery could persist through 2022, according to Fitch Ratings.

“Employment recovery is far from complete and largely unequal,” the global rating agency said in a statement on Wednesday.

More than 22 million people in the US lost their jobs in March and April of 2020 due to the pandemic. The world’s largest economy still had 9.5 million unemployed as of June, according to Labor Department figures.

“We’re seeing widening of existing inequalities and a rise in the risk of long-term labor force detachment and economic scarring in the most affected states,” Fitch Senior Director Olu Sonola said in the statement.

“The segment of the population that has been unemployed for an extended period of time is most at risk for the impending government support cliff,” he added.

While the labor market is very tight in the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, it is showing slack in Hawaii, California, and New York, according to Fitch.

South Dakota and Kansas are the only states that are now back to the pre-pandemic level of high employment to population ratio, whereas West Virginia and New Mexico have the lowest ratio, Fitch noted.

Source: Anadolu Agency